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THE  HOME 

OF 
GOOD  TASTE 


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FURNISHING  THE   HOME 
OF  GOOD  TASTE 


A  BRIEF  SKETCH  OF  THE  PERIOD  STYLES  IN 
INTERIOR  DECORATION  WITH  SUGGESTIONS  AS 
TO  THEIR  EMPLOYMENT  IN  THE  HOMES  OF  TODAY 


BY 
LUCY  ABBOT  THROOP 


NEW  YORK 

McBRIDE,  NAST  &  COMPANY 

1912 


lrt\ 


Copyright,  1910,  by 

The  Cbowell  Publishing  Co. 

Copyright,  1911,  1912,  by 

McBride,    Nast    &    Co. 


Published,     October,     1912 


Contents 


Preface     .      .■     •„     ,^ -.i    -..i     i>i  .•!  >•:  .•        i 

Egypt  and  Greece  .      .,     .      .,     .      .1     .      .,     .1    c.i    i.i  ..j  c.  ..       1 

The  Renaissance  in  Italy  .      .,     .      .      .      .      .,     .      .  .1  .1  .       7 

The  Development  of  Decoration  in  France  .      .     ,.,  ,.,  i.,  .     17 

Louis   XIV      ...........     .      .      .:     .,    .,  r.,  ,.,  .     29 

The  Regency  and  Louis  XV  ..,..,     .,     1.1     .1     .1  .:  ,.,  i..     37 

Louis  XVI      .........      .,      ..    -.,     .     ,.,    :..    ..-  :.  ..,  ,.,     47 

The  Empire   ...........      .      .1     .1  .  .  .     53 

English  Furniture  from  Gothic  Days  to  the  Period  of  Queen 

Anne        . .,    r.i  .1  .  .     59 

Queen    Anne       ......,•       .     ■,<    ,.,    ■.»  <.i  .:  ■..     73 

Chippendale  and  the  18th  Century  in  England  .,    i.,  t.i  ..  .     79 

Robert  Adam       .      .     t.      .       .      .      .     .1     .      .1    i.>     .1  ;.i  ^.i  t.,     91- 

HePPLEWHITE           .,.....,        .         .,        .         .!        .,        .1  I.I  .1  r.i       97i 

Sheraton       .■     ..      .,     ..;     >.i     ..     ■.,     .■     :.i     .      ..     t.i     :.i  r.i  o  >•■  103 

A  General  Talk      ■.,     ,.•     ..•     ,.,     .:     -.     :.,     :.,     .•     ■,^    r.i  r.i  >/  ,.■  llT 

Georgian  Furniture     ■..■.     ,.,     .      .1     -.i     r.i     .1     :.,    :.,    w  r..  t.i  .    135 

Furnishing  with  French  Furniture      .,      .,     r.i     :.,    ci  ..1  i.i  t.  149 

Craftsman  Furniture   .,     .     r.i     .1     .1     .1    r.i    t.t    r.i     .1  r.i  i.i  r.^  159 

Country   Houses      r.,     .•    1.,     ..i    i.i     -.i    1.1    :.i    r-    t.i     .i  w  i.i  i.^  165 

The  Nursery  and  Play-room  .     r.i     r.i    t.i     .      .1    r.i     .1  .1  r.i  r.-  175 

Curtains  .       .      ,•    t.i    r.i    r.i     1.1    w    r.i     t.i     -..i     i.i    t.i    :.i  t.i  r.i  i.   181' 

Rugs       ......        :.,       ,.,       r..       ,.,       »,       ..,       ..1       ■.,       ,.1       r.i  ,.,  ::  •.     191 

Making  the  Porch  More  Livable   .      .     :.i     .'     .,    r.i  .  .  .  211 

A  List  of  Books  on  Period  Styles  and  Furnishing  .     ,.,  .  .  .   218 


The  Illustrations 


A  modern  dining-room.     Period  of  Italian  Renaissance     Frontispiece 

Facing  Page 
Modern  Italian  Renaissance  fireplace  and  over-mantel  ...  8 
Doorways  and  pilaster  detail,  Italian  Renaissance  .,      .      .      .        9 

Two  Louis  XIII   chairs .     ,.     ^2 

A  Gothic  chair  of  the  fifteenth  century  .     ,.      .      .      .      .      .      £3 

A  Louis  XIV   chair 82 

Louis  XIV  inlaid  desk-table 33 

Louis  XIV  chair  with  underbracing  .  .  .  .  .  >  .33 
Regency  paneling,  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art  ,.,  ..  i.,  .  40 
A  modern  room  showing  Louis  XV  console  tables  .  ,.  .  .  41 
A  modern  room  in  the  white  and  gold  paneling  of  Louis  XV  .      44 

Louis  XV   hergere 45 

Louis  XVI   panel    from   Versailles    .      .      .      ,.      .      .     ,.      ,.      48 

Marie  Antoinette's  boudoir 49 

Louis  XVI   bench  .      . ,.      .      .      .      .50 

Louis  XVI  chair  from  Fontainebleau      .      .      .     ,.      .      .      •  ,   ^■'• 
Bed  of  Josephine   .      .      .     :.     ,.      .      .      .     i.     [.     ;.i     i.      .      64 

American   Empire   sofa     ..,     |.,     i.,      .      .      .      i.      i.,     i.,     t..      .      55 
English    carved   oak  chest      .........;..      60 

Apostles'  Bed  of  the  Tudor  period  .,...,....      61 

Grinling  Gibbons'    carving      .      .      .      i.      i.      .      ;.,     i.,     t.      i.      64 
Original  Jacobean  settle    .......      i.      i.,     i.      i.      .      65 

Reproductions  of  Jacobean   chairs    .      .      ...      .     i.      .      .65 

Reproductions  of  the  Queen   Anne  period 72 

Reproduction  of  a  William  and  Mary  walnut  chair  ...  73 
Ribbon-back  and  Gothic  type  of  Chippendale  chairs  .  i.  .78 
Chippendale  mantel  mirror  showing  French  influence   ...      79 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

Facing  Page 

Chippendale  fretwork  tea-table 79 

Chippendale  china   cabinet 82 

Typical   chairs   of  the  eighteenth  century  —  Dutch,  Chippen- 
dale,   Hepplewhite   and   Sheraton 83 

Chippendale  and  Hepplewhite  sofas 86 

Adam  mirror,  block-front  chest  of  drawers  and  Hepplewhite 

chair ..,     l.. 87 

Two  Adam   mantels ,.,.,....  92 

.      .,     .  93 

I. J    t.j    I.  yo 

.     .,     .  97 

,.     .     .  97 

.     .     .  104 


Reproductions  of  Adam  painted  furniture  .,  [., 
A  modern  Hepplewhite  dining-room  .  .;  .  d 
Old    Hepplewhite   sideboard    .      .      .      ,.,      .       ., 

Modern   Hepplewhite   settee 

A   Sheraton  bureau      ,       .       .      .,.,„. 

Sheraton  desk  and  sewing-table   .       .,     ,.,      .      .      .      .      ,.       .    105 

Modern   dining-room   in   white 112 

A  modern  staircase  hall  with  rare  tapestries  and  a  Boulle  clock  113 

Beauvais   tapestries 124} 

Tapestry  with  heraldry  design 125 

Flemish  tapestry  of  the  late  fifteenth  century  .,      .      ..,     ..      ,.    125  > 

A  group  of  old  mirrors 140 

A   modem   Georgian   bedroom 141 

Reproductions  of  Chinese  Chippendale  table  and  Hepplewhite 

desk 144 

Reproductions    of    Sheraton    bureau    and    William   and   Mary 

bureau i.,     .      .      .   145 

A  modern  room  in  the  French  manner   .      .      .      .,     .      .      .148 

Doorway  detail  of  the  above .    149 

Doorway  detail  from  the  bedroom  of  the  Empress,  Compiegne  152 

Reproduction  of  Marie  Antoinette's  bed 153 

Modern  Louis  XVI  bed  in  enamel  and  cane 153 

A  craftsman   living-room .    160 

A  fire-corner  showing  the  craftsman's  touch      ......    161 

A  modern  Georgian  hall 164 

A  rare  block-front  chest  of  drawers 165 


Twin  beds  with  cane  head-  and  foot-boards 
iWilliam    and    Mary    settee      .... 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

Faciko  Pass 

A  modern   Georgian   dining-room      .      .     ..     ......  168 

Library  door  showing  a  modern  adaptation  of  the  Renaissance  169 

.  172 

.  173 

.  173 

.  184 

.  185 

.  192 

.  193 

.  193 

.  200 

.  200 

.  200 

.  201 

.  212 

.  213 


Modern  Hepplewhite  dressing-table   ........ 

The  shaped  valance  for  formal  curtains      .... 

Informal  curtain  treatment  for  a  summer  home  . 

A  rare  antique  Persian  rug,  "  The  Judgment  of  Solomon 

Typical  modern   Bokhara  rug 

Modern    Kirmanshah   rug 

Fine  silk  Persian  rug  . 

Antique  Anatolian    rug     . 

Antique  Saraband  rug      .     ..; 

Antique  Chinese  rug   . 

A  comfortably  furnished  porch 

An  uncovered  terrace  . 


FURNISHING 
THE  HOME 

OF 
GOOD  TASTE 


Preface 

To  try  to  write  a  history  of  furniture  in  a  fairly  short 
space  is  almost  as  hard  as  the  square  peg  and  round  hole 
problem.  No  matter  how  one  tries,  it  will  not  fit.  One  has 
to  leave  out  so  much  of  importance,  so  much  of  historic  and 
artistic  interest,  so  much  of  the  life  of  the  people  that  helps 
to  make  the  subject  vivid,  and  has  to  take  so  much  for 
granted,  that  the  task  seems  almost  impossible.  In  spite 
of  this  I  shall  try  to  give  in  the  following  pages  a  general 
but  necessarily  short  review  of  the  field,  hoping  that  it  may 
help  those  wishing  to  furnish  their  homes  in  some  special 
period  style.  The  average  person  cannot  study  all  the  sub- 
ject thoroughly,  but  it  certainly  adds  interest  to  the  prob- 
lems of  one's  own  home  to  know  something  of  how  the 
great  periods  of  decoration  grew  one  from  another,  how  the 
influence  of  art  in  one  country  made  itself  felt  in  the  next, 
molding  and  changing  taste  and  educating  the  people  to 
a  higher  sense  of  beauty. 

It  is  the  lack  of  general  knowledge  which  makes  it  possi- 
ble for  furniture  built  on  amazingly  bad  lines  to  be  sold 
masquerading  under  the  name  of  some  great  period.  The 
customer  soon  becomes  bewildered,  and,  unless  he  has  a  de- 
cided taste  of  his  o^vn,  is  apt  to  get  something  which  will 

i 


ii  PREFACE 

prove  a  white  elephant  on  his  hands.  One  must  have  some 
standard  of  comparison,  and  the  best  and  simplest  way  is 
to  study  the  great  work  of  the  past.  To  study  its  rise  and 
climax  rather  than  the  dechne;  to  know  the  laws  of  its  per- 
fection so  that  one  can  recognize  the  exaggeration  which 
leads  to  degeneracy.  This  ebb  and  flow  is  most  interesting : 
the  feeling  the  way  at  the  beginning,  ever  growing  surer 
and  surer  until  the  high  level  of  perfection  is  reached;  and 
then  the  desire  to  "  gild  the  lily  "  leading  to  over-ornamenta- 
tion, and  so  to  decline.  However,  the  germ  of  good  taste 
and  the  sense  of  truth  and  beauty  is  never  dead,  and  asserts 
itself  slowly  in  a  transition  period,  and  then  once  more  one 
of  the  great  periods  of  decoration  is  born. 

There  are  several  ways  to  study  the  subject,  one  of  the 
pleasantest  naturally  being  travel,  as  the  great  museums, 
palaces,  and  private  collections  of  Europe  offer  the  widest 
field.  In  this  country,  also,  the  museums  and  many  private 
collections  are  rich  in  treasures,  and  there  are  many  proud 
possessors  of  beautiful  isolated  pieces  of  furniture.  If  one 
cannot  see  originals  the  libraries  will  come  to  the  rescue  with 
many  books  showing  research  and  a  thorough  knowledge 
and  appreciation  of  the  beauty  and  importance  of  the  sub- 
ject in  all  its  branches, 

I  have  tried  to  give  an  outline  (which  I  hope  the  reader 
will  care  to  enlarge  for  himself) ,  not  from  a  collector's  stand- 
point, but  from  the  standpoint  of  the  modern  home-maker. 


PREFACE  in 

to  help  him  furnish  his  house  consistently ,s^  to  try  to  spread 
the  good  word  that  period  furnishing  does  not  necessitate 
great  wealth,  and  that  it  is  as  easy  and  far  more  interesting 
to  furnish  a  house  after  good  models,  as  to  have  it  banal 
and  commonplace. 

The  first  part  of  this  little  book  is  devoted  to  a  short  re- 
view of  the  great  periods,  and  the  second  part  is  an  effort  to 
help  adapt  them  to  modern  needs,  with  a  few  chapters  added 
of  general  interest  to  the  home-maker. 

A  short  bibliography  is  also  added,  both  to  express  my 
thanks  and  indebtedness  to  many  learned  and  delightful 
writers  on  this  subject  of  house  furnishing  in  all  its  branches, 
and  also  as  a  help  to  others  who  may  wish  to  go  more  deeply 
into  its  different  divisions  than  is  possible  within  the  covers 
of  a  book. 

I  wish  to  thank  the  Editors  of  House  and  Garden  and 
The  Woman's  Home  Companion  for  kindly  allowing  me  to 
reprint  articles  and  portions  of  articles  which  have  appeared 
in  their  magazines. 

I  wish  also  to  thank  the  owners  of  the  different  houses 
illustrated,  and  Messrs.  Trowbridge  and  Livingston,  archi- 
tects, for  their  kindness  in  allowing  me  to  use  photographs. 

Thanks  are  also  due  Messrs.  Bergen  &  Orsenigo,  Nahon  & 
Company,  Tiffany  Studios,  Joseph  Wild  &  Co.  and  the  John 
Somma  Co.  for  the  use  of  photographs  to  illustrate  the  re- 
production of  period  furniture  and  rugs  of  different  types. 


Egypt  and  Greece 


Egypt  and  Greece 


THE  early  liistory  of  art  in  all  countries  is  naturally 
connected  more  closely  with  architecture  than  with 
decoration,  for  architecture  had  to  be  developed  be- 
fore the  demand  for  decoration  could  come.  But  the  two 
have  much  in  common.  Noble  architecture  calls  for  noble 
decoration.  Decoration  is  one  of  the  natural  instincts  of 
man,  and  from  the  earliest  records  of  his  existence  we  find  him 
striving  to  give  expression  to  it,  we  see  it  in  the  scratched 
pieces  of  bone  and  stone  of  the  cave  dwellers,  in  the  designs 
of  savage  tribes,  and  in  Druidical  and  Celtic  remains,  and 
in  the  great  ruins  of  Yucatan.  The  meaning  of  these  monu- 
ments may  be  lost  to  us,  but  we  understand  the  spirit  of 
trying  to  express  the  sense  of  beauty  in  the  highest  way 
possible,  for  it  is  the  spirit  which  is  still  moving  the  world, 
and  is  the  foundation  of  all  worthy  iichievement. 

Egypt  and  Assyria  stand  out  against  the  almost  impen- 
etrable curtain  of  pre-historic  days  in  all  the  majesty  of 
their  so-called  civihzation.  Huge,  massive,  aloof  from  the 
world,  their  temples  and  tombs  and  ruins  remain.  Research 
has  given  us  the  key  to  their  religion,  so  we  understand 
much  of  the  meaning  of  their  wall-paintings  and  the  build- 
ings themselves.  The  belief  of  the  Egyptian  that  hfe  was 
a  short  passage  and  his  house  a  mere  stopping-place  on  the 


a  FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

way  to  the  tomb,  which  was  to  be  his  permanent  dwelhng- 
place,  explains  the  great  care  and  labor  spent  on  the  pyra- 
mids, chapels,  and  rock  sepulchers.  They  embalmed  the 
dead  for  all  eternity  and  put  statues  and  images  in  the 
tombs  to  keep  the  mimimy  company.  Colossal  figures  of 
their  gods  and  goddesses  guarded  the  tombs  and  temples, 
and  still  remain  looking  out  over  the  desert  with  their 
strange,  inscrutable  Egyptian  eyes.  The  people  had  tech- 
nical skill  which  has  never  been  surpassed,  but  the  great  size 
of  the  pyramids  and  temples  and  sphinxes  gives  one  the 
feehng  of  despotism  rather  than  civilization;  of  mass  and 
permanency  and  the  wonder  of  man's  achievement  rather 
than  beauty,  but  they  personify  the  mystery  and  power  of 
ancient  Egypt. 

The  columns  of  the  temples  were  massive,  those  of  Kamak 
being  seventy  feet  high,  with  capitals  of  lotus  flowers  and 
buds  strictly  conventionahzed.  The  walls  were  covered  with 
hieroglyphics  and  paintings.  Perspective  was  never  used, 
and  figures  were  painted  side  view  except  for  the  eye  and 
shoulder.  In  the  tombs  have  been  found  many  household 
belongings,  beautiful  gold  and  silver  work,  beside  the  offer- 
ings put  there  to  appease  the  gods.  Chairs  have  been 
found,  which,  humorous  as  it  may  sound,  are  certainly  the 
ancestors  of  Empire  chairs  made  thousands  of  years  later. 
This  is  explained  by  the  influence  of  Napoleon's  Egyptian 
campaign,  but  there  is  something  in  common  between  the 


EGYPT  AND  GREECE  3 

two  times  so  far  apart,  of  ambition  and  pride,  of  grandeur 
and  colossal  enterprise. 

Greece  may  well  be  called  the  Mother  of  Beauty,  for 
with  the  Greeks  came  the  dawn  of  a  higher  civilization,  a 
striving  for  harmony  of  line  and  proportion,  an  ideal  clear, 
high  and  persistent.  When  the  Dorians  from  the  northern 
part  of  Greece  built  their  simple,  beautiful  temples  to  their 
gods  and  goddesses  they  gave  the  impetus  to  the  movement 
which  brought  forth  the  highest  art  the  world  has  known. 
Traces  of  Egyptian  influence  are  to  be  found  in  the  earliest 
temples,  but  the  Greeks  soon  rose  to  their  own  great  heights. 
The  Doric  column  was  thick,  about  six  diameters  in  height, 
fluted,  growing  smaller  toward  the  top,  with  a  simple  capi- 
tal, and  supported  the  entablature.  The  horizontal  lines 
of  the  architrave  and  cornice  were  more  marked  than  the 
vertical  lines  of  the  columns.  The  portico  with  its  row  of 
columns  supported  the  pediment.  The  Parthenon  is  the 
most  perfect  example  of  the  Doric  order,  and  shattered  as  it 
is  by  time  and  man  it  is  still  one  of  the  most  beautiful  build- 
ings in  the  world.  It  was  built  in  the  time  of  Pericles,  from 
about  460  to  435  B.  c,  and  the  work  was  superintended  by 
Phidias,  who  did  much  of  the  work  himself  and  left  the  mark 
of  his  genius  on  the  whole. 

The  Ionic  order  of  architecture  was  a,  development  of  the 
Doric,  but  was  lighter  and  more  graceful.  The  columns 
were  more  slender  and  had  a  greater  number  of  flutes  and 


4  FURNISfflNG  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

the  capitals  formed  of  scrolls  or  volutes  were  more  orna- 
mental. 

The  Corinthian  order  was  more  elaborate  than  the  Ionic 
as  the  capitals  were  foliated  (the  acanthus  being  used),  the 
columns  higher,  and  the  entablature  more  richly  decorated. 
This  order  was  copied  by  the  Romans  more  than  the  other 
two  as  it  suited  their  more  florid  taste.  All  the  orders  have 
the  horizontal  feeling  in  common  (as  Gothic  architecture 
has  the  vertical),  and  the  simple  plan  with  its  perfect  har- 
mony of  proportion  leaves  no  sense  of  lack  of  variety. 

The  perfection  attained  in  architecture  was  also  attained 
in  sculpture,  and  we  see  the  same  aspiration  toward  the  ideal, 
the  same  wonderful  achievement.  This  purity  of  taste  of 
the  Greeks  has  formed  a  standard  to  which  the  world  has 
returned  again  and  again  and  whose  influence  will  continue 
to  be  felt  as  long  as  the  world  lasts. 

The  minor  arts  were  carried  to  the  same  state  of  perfec- 
tion as  their  greater  sisters,  for  the  artists  and  artisans  had 
the  same  noble  ideal  of  beauty  and  the  same  unerring  taste. 
We  have  carved  gems  and  coins,  and  wonderful  gold  orna- 
ments, painted  and  silver  vases,  and  terra-cotta  figurines,  to 
show  what  a  high  point  the  household  arts  reached.  No 
work  of  the  great  Grecian  painters  remains ;  Apelles,  Zeuxis, 
are  only  names  to  us,  but  from  the  wall  paintings  at  Pompeii 
where  late  Greek  influence  was  strongly  felt  we  can  imagine 
how  charming  the  decorations  must  have  been.  Egypt  and 
Greece  were  the  torch  bearers  of  civilization. 


T^he  Renaissance  in  Italy 


The  Renaissance  in  Italy 

THE  Gothic  period  has  been  treated  in  later  chapters 
on  France  and  England,  as  it  is  its  development  in 
these  countries  which  most  affects  us,  but  the  Renais- 
sance in  Italy  stands  alone.     So  great  was  its  strength  that 
it  could  supply  both  inspiration  and  leaders  to  other  coun- 
tries, and  still  remain  preeminent. 

It  was  in  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries  that  this 
great  classical  revival  in  Italy  came,  this  re-birth  of  a  true 
sense  of  beauty  which  is  called  the  Renaissance.  It  was  an 
age  of  wonders,  of  great  artistic  creations,  and  was  one  of 
the  great  epochs  of  the  world,  one  of  the  turning  points  of 
human  existence.  It  covered  so  large  a  field  and  was  so 
many-sided  that  only  careful  study  can  give  a  full  realiza- 
tion of  the  giants  of  intellect  and  power  who  made  its  great- 
ness, and  who  left  behind  them  work  that  shows  the  very 
quintessence  of  genius. 

Italy,  stirring  slightly  in  the  fourteenth  century,  woke 
and  rose  to  her  greatest  heights  in  the  fifteenth  and  six- 
teenth. The  whole  people  responded  to  the  new  joy  of 
life,  the  love  of  learning,  the  expression  of  beauty  in  all  its 
forms.  All  notes  were  struck, —  gay,  graceful,  beautiful, 
grave,  cruel,  dignified,  reverential,  magnificent,  but  all  with 


8  FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

an  exuberance  of  life  and  power  that  gave  to  Italian  art  its 
great  place  in  human  culture.  The  great  names  of  the  pe- 
riod speak  for  themselves, —  Michelangelo,  Raphael,  Botti- 
celli, Titian,  Leonardo  da  Vinci,  Andrea  del  Sarto,  Machia- 
velli,  Benvenuto  Cellini,  and  a  host  of  others. 

The  inspiration  of  the  Renaissance  came  largely  from  the 
later  Greek  schools  of  art  and  literature,  Alexandria  and 
Rhodes  and  the  colonies  in  Sicily  and  Italy,  rather  than 
ancient  Greece.  It  was  also  the  influence  which  came  to 
ancient  Rome  at  its  most  luxurious  period.  The  impor- 
tance of  the  taking  of  Alexandria  and  Constantinople  in 
1453  must  not  be  underestimated,  as  it  drove  scholars  from 
the  great  libraries  of  the  East  carrying  their  manuscripts 
to  the  nobles  and  priests  and  merchant  princes  of  Italy  who 
thus  became  enthusiastic  patrons  of  learning  and  art.  This 
later  type  of  Greek  art  lacked  the  austerity  of  the  ancient 
type,  and  to  the  models  full  of  joy  and  beauty  and  suffering, 
the  Italians  of  the  Renaissance  added  the  touch  of  their  own 
temperament  and  made  them  theirs  in  the  glowing,  rich  and 
astounding  way  which  has  never  been  equaled  and  probably 
never  will  be.  Perfection  of  line  and  beauty  was  not  suffi- 
cient, the  soul  with  its  capacity  for  joy  and  suffering,  "the 
soul  with  all  its  maladies  "  as  Pater  says,  had  become  a  fac- 
tor. The  impression  made  upon  Michelangelo  by  seeing 
the  Laocoon  disinterred  is  vividly  described  by  Longfel- 
low— 


Trowlx  i-i'ic  C"  Livingston,  architects 

An  exquisite  and  true  Renaissance  feeling  is  shown  in  the  pilasters 


THE  RENAISSANCE  IN  ITALY  9 

"  Long,  long  years  ago, 
Standing  one  morning  near  the  Baths  of  Titus, 
I  saw  the  statue  of  Laocoon 
Rise  from  its  grave  of  centuries  like  a  ghost 
Writhing  in  pain;  and  as  it  tore  away 
The  knotted  serpents  from  its  limbs,  I  heard. 
Or  seemed  to  hear,  the  cry  of  agony 
From  its  white  parted  lips.     And  still  I  marvel 
At  the  three  Rhodian  artists,  by  whose  hands 
This  miracle  was  wrought.     Yet  he  beholds 
Far  nobler  works  who  looks  upon  the  ruins 
Of  temples  in  the  Forum  here  in  Rome. 
If  God  should  give  me  power  in  my  old  age 
To  build  for  him  a  temple  half  as  grand 
As  those  were  in  their  glory,  I  should  count 
My  age  more  excellent  than  youth  itself, 
And  all  that  I  have  hitherto  accomplished 
As  only  vanity." 

"It  was  an  age  productive  in  personalities,  many-sided, 
centralized,  complete.  Artists  and  philosophers  and  those 
whom  the  action  of  the  world  had  elevated  and  made  keen, 
breathed  a  common  air  and  caught  light  and  heat  ^rom  each 
other's  thoughts.  It  is  this  unity  of  spirit  which  gives  unity 
to  all  the  various  products  of  the  Renaissance,  and  it  is  to 
this  intimate  alliance  with  mind,  this  participation  in  the 
best  thoughts  which  that  age  produced,  that  the  art  of  Italy 
in  the  fifteenth  century  owes  much  of  its  grave  dignity  and 
influence."  *  » 

*  Walter  Pater:  "Studies  in  the  Renaissance." 


10         FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

It  is  to  this  unity  of  the  arts  we  owe  the  fact  that  the 
art  of  beautifying  the  home  took  its  proper  place.  During 
the  Middle  Ages  the  Church  had  absorbed  the  greater  part 
of  the  best  man  had  to  give,  and  home  life  was  rather  a  hit 
or  miss  affair,  the  house  was  a  fortress,  the  family  posses- 
sions so  few  that  they  could  be  packed  into  chests  and  easily 
moved.  During  the  Renaissance  the  home  ideal  grew,  and, 
although  the  Church  still  claimed  the  best,  home  life  began 
to  have  comforts  and  beauties  never  dreamed  of  before. 
The  walls  glowed  with  color,  tapestries  and  velvets  added 
their  beauties,  and  the  noble  proportions  of  the  marble  halls 
made  a  rich  background  for  the  elaborately  carved  furniture. 

The  doors  of  Italian  palaces  were  usually  inlaid  with 
woods  of  light  shade,  and  the  soft,  golden  tone  given  by  the 
process  was  in  beautiful,  but  not  too  strong,  contrast  with 
the  marble  architrave  of  the  doorway,  which  in  the  fifteenth 
century  was  carved  in  low  relief  combined  with  disks  of 
colored  marble,  sliced,  by  the  way,  from  Roman  temple  pil- 
lars. Later  as  the  classic  taste  became  stronger  the  carving 
gave  place  to  a  plain  architrave  and  the  over-door  took  the 
form  of  a  pediment. 

Mantels  were  of  marble,  large,  beautifully  carved,  with 
the  fireplace  sunk  into  the  thickness  of  the  wall.  The  over- 
mantel usually  had  a  carved  panel,  but  later,  during  the 
sixteenth  century,  this  was  sometimes  replaced  by  a  picture. 
,The  windows  of  the  Renaissance  were  a  part  of  the  decora- 


THE  RENAISSANCE  IN  ITALY  11 

tion  of  the  room,  and  curtains  were  not  used  in  our  modern 
manner,  but  served  only  to  keep  out  the  d)raughts.     In 
those  days  the  better  the  house  the  simpler  the  curtains. 
There  were  many  kinds  of  ceilings  used,  marble,  carved 
wood,  stucco,  and  painting.     They  were  elaborate  and  beau- 
tiful, and  always  gave  the  impression  of  being  perfectly  sup- 
ported on  the  well-proportioned  cornice  and  walls.     The 
floors  were  usually  of  marble.     Many  of  the  houses  kept 
to  the  plan  of  mediaeval  exteriors,  great  expanses  of  plain 
walls  with  few  openings  on  the  outsides,  but  as  they  were 
built  around  open  courts,  the  interiors  with  their  colonnades 
and  open  spaces  showed  the  change  the  Renaissance  had 
brought.     The  Riccardi  Palace  in  Florence  and  the  Palazzo 
della  Cancelleria  in  Rome,  are  examples  of  this  early  type. 
The  second  phase  was  represented  by  the  great  Bramante, 
whose  theory  of  restraining  decoration  and  emphasizing  the 
structure  of  the  building  has  had  such  important  influence. 
One  of  his  successors  was  Andrea  Palladio,  whose  work  made 
such  a  deep  impression  on  Inigo  Jones.     The  Library  of 
St.  Mark's  at  Venice  is  a  beautiful  example  of  this  part. 
The  third  phase  was  entirely  dominated  by  Michelangelo. 

The  furniture,  to  be  in  keeping  with  buildings  of  this 
kind,  was  large  and  richly  carved.  Chairs,  seats,  chests, 
cabinets,  tables,  and  beds,  were  the  chief  pieces  used,  but 
they  were  not  plentiful  at  all  in  our  sense  of  the  word.  The 
chairs  and  benches  had  cushions  to  soften  the  hard  wooden 


13  FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

seats.  The  stuffs  of  the  time  were  most  beautiful  Genoese 
velvet,  cloth  of  gold,  tapestries,  and  wonderful  embroideries, 
all  lending  their  color  to  the  gorgeous  picture.  The  carved 
marriage  chest,  or  cassone,  is  one  of  the  pieces  of  Renais- 
sance furniture  which  has  most  often  descended  to  our  own 
day,  for  such  chests  formed  a  very  important  part  of  the 
furnishing  in  every  household,  and  being  large  and  heavy, 
were  not  so  easily  broken  as  chairs  and  tables.  Beds  were 
huge,  and  were  architectural  in  form,  a  base  and  roof  sup- 
ported on  four  columns.  The  classical  orders  were  used, 
touched  with  the  spirit  of  the  time,  and  the  fluted  columns 
rose  from  acanthus  leaves  set  in  an  urn  supported  on  lion's 
feet.  The  tester  and  cornice  gave  scope  for  carving  and 
the  panels  of  the  tester  usually  had  the  lovely  scrolls  so 
characteristic  of  the  period.  The  headboard  was  often 
carved  with  a  coat-of-arms  and  the  curtains  hung  from  in- 
side the  cornice. 

Grotesques  were  largely  used  in  ornament.  The  name 
is  derived  from  grottoes,  as  the  Roman  tombs  being  ex- 
cavated at  the  time  were  called,  and  were  in  imitation  of  the 
paintings  found  on  their  walls,  and  while  they  were  fantas- 
tic, the  word  then  had  no  unkindly  humorous  meaning  as 
now.  Scrolls,  dolphins,  birds,  beasts,  the  human  figure, 
flowers,  everything  was  called  into  use  for  carving  and  paint- 
ing by  genius  of  the  artisans  of  the  Renaissance.  They 
loved  their  work  and  felt  the  beauty  and  meaning  of  every 


THE  RENAISSANCE  IN  ITALY  18 

line  they  made,  and  so  it  came  about  that  when,  in  the  course 
of  years,  they  traveled  to  neighboring  countries,  they  spread 
the  influence  of  this  great  period,  and  it  is  most  interesting 
to  see  how  on  the  Italian  foundation  each  country  built  her 
own  distinctive  style. 

Like  all  great  movements  the  Renaissance  had  its  begin- 
ning, its  splendid  climax,  and  its  decline. 


The  Devolopment  of  Decoration  in 

France 


T^he  Development  of  Decoration  in 
France 

WHEN  Caesar  came  to  Gaul  he  did  more  than  see 
and  conquer;  he  absorbed  so  thoroughly  that  we 
have  almost  no  knowledge  of  how  the  Gauls 
lived,  so  far  as  household  effects  were  concerned.  The 
character  which  descended  from  this  Gallo-Roman  race  to 
the  later  French  nation  was  optimistic  and  beauty-loving, 
with  a  strength  which  has  carried  it  through  many  dark  days. 
It  might  be  said  to  be  responsible  for  the  French  sense  of 
proportion  and  their  freedom  of  judgment  which  has  enabled 
them  to  hold  their  important  place  in  the  history  of  art  and 
decoration.  They  have  always  assimilated  ideas  freely  but 
have  worked  them  over  until  they  bore  the  stamp  of  their 
own  individuality,  often  gaining  greatly  in  the  process. 

One  of  the  first  authentic  pieces  of  furniture  is  a  hahut 
or  chest  dating  from  sometime  in  the  twelfth  century  and 
belonging  to  the  Church  of  Obazine.  It  shows  how  furni- 
ture followed  the  lines  of  architecture,  and  also  shows  that 
there  was  no  carving  used  on  it.  Large  spaces  were  prob- 
ably covered  with  painted  canvas,  glued  on.  Later,  when 
panels  became  smaller  and  the  furniture  designs  were  modi- 

17 


18  FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

fied,  moldings,  etc.,  began  to  be  used.  These  hahuts  or 
huches,  from  which  the  term  hucliiers  came  (meaning  the 
Corporation  of  Carpenters),  were  nothing  more  than  chests 
standing  on  four  feet.  From  all  sources  of  information  on 
the  subject  it  has  been  decided  that  they  were  probably  the 
chief  pieces  of  furniture  the  people  had.  They  served  as  a 
seat  by  day  and,  with  cushions  spread  upon  them,  as  a  bed 
by  night.  They  were  also  used  as  tables  with  large  pieces 
of  silver  dresse  or  arranged  upon  them  in  the  daytime. 
From  this  comes  our  word  "  dresser  "  for  the  kitchen  shelves. 
In  those  days  of  brigands  and  wars  and  sudden  death,  the 
household  belongings  were  as  few  as  possible  so  that  the 
trouble  of  speedy  transportation  would  be  small,  and  every- 
thing was  packed  into  the  chests.  As  the  idea  of  comfort 
grew  a  little  stronger,  the  number  of  chests  grew,  and  when 
a  traveling  party  arrived  at  a  stopping-place,  out  came  the 
tapestries  and  hangings  and  cushions  and  silver  dishes,  which 
were  arranged  to  make  the  rooms  seem  as  cheerful  as  possi- 
ble. The  germ  of  the  home  ideal  was  there,  at  least,  but  it 
was  hard  work  for  the  arras  and  the  "  ciel  "  to  keep  out  the 
cold  and  cover  the  bare  walls.  When  life  became  a  little 
more  secure  and  people  learned  something  of  the  beauty  of 
proportion,  the  rooms  showed  more  harmony  in  regard  to  the 
relation  of  open  spaces  and  walls,  and  became  a  decoration 
in  themselves,  with  the  tapestries  and  hangings  enhancing 
their  beauty  of  line.     It  was  not  until  some  time  in  the  fif- 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  DECORATION  IN  FRANCE   19 

teenth  century  that  the  habit  of  traveling  with  all  one's  be- 
longings ceased. 

The  year  1000  was  looked  forward  to  with  abject  terror, 
for  it  was  firmly  believed  by  all  that  the  world  was  then  com- 
ing to  an  end.     It  cast  a  gloom  over  all  the  people  and  para- 
lyzed all  ambition.     When,  however,  the  fatal  year  was 
safely  passed,  there  was  a  great  religious  thanksgiving  and 
everyone  joined  in  the   praise   of  a  merciful   God.     The 
semi-circular  arch  of  the  Romanesque  style  gave  way  to  the 
pointed  arch  of  the  Gothic,  and  wonderful  cathedrals  slowly 
lifted  their  beautiful  spires  to  the  sky.     The  ideal  was  to 
build  for  the  glory  of  God  and  not  only  for  the  eyes  of  man, 
so  that  exquisite  carving  was  lavished  upon  all  parts  of  the 
work.     This  deeply  reverent  feeling  lasted  through  the  best 
period  of  Gothic  architecture,  and  while  household  furniture 
was  at  a  standstill  church  furniture  became  more  and  more 
beautiful,  for  in  the  midst  of  the  religious  fervor  nothing 
seemed  too  much  to  do  for  the  Church.     Slowly  it  died  out, 
and  a  secular  attitude  crept  into  decoration.     One  finds  gro- 
tesque carvings  appearing  on  the  choir  stalls  and  other  parts 
of  churches  and  cathedrals  and  the  standard  of  excellence 
was  lowered. 

The  chest,  table,  wooden  arm-chair,  bed,  and  bench,  were 
as  far  as  the  imagination  had  gone  in  domestic  furniture,  and 
although  we  read  of  wonderful  tapestries  and  leather  hang- 
ings and  clothes  embroidered  in  gold  and  jewels,  there  was 


«0         FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

no  comfort  in  our  sense  of  the  word,  and  those  brave  knights 
and  fair  ladies  had  need  to  be  strong  to  stand  the  hardships 
of  life.  Glitter  and  show  was  the  ideal  and  it  was  many 
more  years  before  the  standard  of  comfort  and  refinement 
gained  a  firm  foothold. 

Gothic  architecture  and  decoration  declined  from  the  per- 
fection of  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries  to  the  over- 
decorated,  flamboyant  Gothic  of  the  fifteenth  century,  and 
it  was  in  the  latter  period  that  the  transition  began  between 
the  Gothic  and  the  Renaissance  epochs. 

The  Renaissance  was  at  its  height  in  Italy  in  the  fifteenth 
century,  and  its  influence  began  to  make  itself  felt  a  little  in 
France  at  that  time. 

When  the  French  under  Louis  XII  seized  Milan,  the 
magnificence  of  the  court  of  Ludovico  Sforza,  the  great  duke 
of  Milan,  made  such  an  impression  on  them  that  they  could 
not  rest  content  with  the  old  order,  and  took  home  many 
beautiful  things.  Italian  artisans  were  also  imported,  and 
as  France  was  ready  for  the  change,  their  lessons  were 
learned  and  the  French  Renaissance  came  slowly  into  ex- 
istence. This  transition  is  well  shown  by  the  Chateau  de 
Gaillon,  built  by  Cardinal  d'Amboise.  Gothic  and  Renais- 
sance decoration  were  placed  side  by  side  in  panels  and  fur- 
niture, and  we  also  find  some  pure  Gothic  decoration  as  late 
as  the  early  part  of  the  sixteenth  century,  but  they  were  in 
parts  of  France  where  tradition  changed  slowly.     Styles 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  DECORATION  IN  FRANCE      21 

overlap  in  every  transition  period,  so  it  is  often  difficult  to 
place  the  exact  date  on  a  piece  of  furniture ;  but  the  old  dies 
out  at  last  and  gives  way  to  the  new. 

With  the  accession  of  Frances  I  in  1515  the  Renaissance 
came  into  its  own  in  France.  He  was  a  great  patron  of 
art  and  letters,  and  under  his  fostering  care  the  people  knew 
new  luxuries,  new  beauties,  and  new  comforts.  He  invited 
Andrea  del  Sarto  and  Leonardo  da  Vinci  to  come  to  France. 
The  word  Renaissance  means  simply  revival  and  it  is  not 
correctly  used  when  we  mean  a  distinct  style  led  or  inspired 
by  one  person.  It  was  a  great  epoch,  with  individuality  as 
its  leading  spirit,  led  by  the  inspiration  of  the  Italian  artists 
brought  from  Italy  and  molded  by  the  genius  of  France. 
This  renewal  of  classic  feeling  came  at  the  psychological  mo- 
ment, for  the  true  spirit  of  the  great  Gothic  period  had  died. 
The  Renaissance  movements  in  Italy,  France,  England  and 
Germany  all  drew  their  inspiration  from  the  same  source, 
but  in  each  case  the  national  characteristics  entered  into  the 
treatment.  The  Italians  and  Germans  both  used  the  gro- 
tesque a  great  deal,  but  the  Germans  used  it  in  a  coarser 
and  heavier  way  than  the  Italians,  who  used  it  esthetically. 
The  French  used  more  especially  conventional  and  beauti- 
ful floral  forms,  and  the  inborn  French  sense  of  the  fitness 
of  things  gave  the  treatment  a  wonderful  charm  and  beauty. 
If  one  studies  the  French  chateaux  one  will  feel  the  true 
beauty  and  spirit  of  the  times  ^—  Blois  with  its  history  of 


22  FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

many  centuries,  and  then  some  of  the  purely  Renaissance 
chateaux,  like  Chambord.  Although  great  numbers  of 
Italian  artists  came  to  France,  one  must  not  think  they  did 
all  the  beautiful  work  of  the  time.  The  French  learned 
quickly  and  adapted  what  they  learned  to  their  own  needs, 
so  that  the  delicate  and  graceful  decorations  brought  from 
Italy  became  more  and  more  individualized  until  in  the  reign 
of  Henry  II  the  Renaissance  reached  its  high-water  mark. 
The  furniture  of  the  time  did  not  show  much  change  or 
become  more  varied  or  comfortable.  It  was  large  and  solid 
and  the  chairs  had  the  satisfactory  effect  of  good  propor- 
tion, while  the  general  squareness  of  outline  added  to  the 
feeling  of  solidity.  Oak  was  used,  and  later  walnut.  The 
chair  legs  were  straight,  and  often  elaborately  turned,  and 
usually  had  strainers  or  under  framing.  Cushions  were  sim- 
ply tied  on  at  first,  but  the  knowledge  of  upholstering  was 
gaining  ground,  and  by  the  time  of  Louis  XIII  was  well 
understood.  Cabinets  had  an  architectural  effect  in  their 
design.  The  style  of  the  decorative  motive  changed,  but  it 
is  chiefly  in  architecture  and  the  decorative  treatment  of  it 
that  one  sees  the  true  spirit  of  the  Renaissance.  Two  men 
who  had  great  influence  on  the  style  of  furniture  of  the  time 
were  Androuet  du  Cerceau  and  Hugues  Sambin.  They 
published  books  of  plates  that  were  eagerly  copied  in  all 
parts  of  France.  Sambin's  influence  can  be  traced  in  the 
later  style  of  Louis  XIV. 


"^    en 

O    <u 


X 


US 


Hv  courtesy  of  the  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art 

This   Gothic  chair  of  the  16th  century  shows  the  beautiful   linen-fold 

design  in  the  carving  on  the  lower  panels,  and  also  the  keyhole  which 

made   the   chest   safe  when   traveling 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  DECORATION  IN  FRANCE   23 

The  marriage  of  Henry  II  and  Catherine  de  Medici  nat- 
urally continued  the  strong  Italian  influence.  The  portion 
of  the  Renaissance  called  after  Henry  II  lasted  about  sev- 
enty-five years,  and  corresponds  with  the  Elizabethan  period 
in  England. 

During  the  regency  of  Marie  de  Medici,  Flemish  influence 
became  very  strong,  as  she  invited  Rubens  to  Paris  to  dec- 
orate the  Luxembourg.  There  were  also  many  Italians 
called  to  do  the  work,  and  as  Rubens  had  studied  in  Italy, 
Italian  influence  was  not  lacking. 

Degeneracy  began  during  the  reign  of  Henry  IV,  as  or- 
nament became  meaningless  and  consistency  of  decoration 
was  lost  in  a  maze  of  superfluous  design. 

It  was  in  the  reign  of  Louis  XIII  that  furniture  for  the 
first  time  became  really  comfortable,  and  if  one  examines 
the  engravings  of  Abraham  Bosse  one  will  see  that  the  rooms 
have  an  air  of  homelikeness  as  well  as  richness.  The  char- 
acteristic chair  of  the  period  was  short  in  the  back  and  square 
in  shape  —  it  was  usuallj^  covered  with  leather  or  tapestry, 
fastened  to  the  chair  with  large  brass  nails,  and  the  back  and 
seat  often  had  a  fringe.  A  set  of  chairs  usually  consisted 
of  arm-chairs,  plain  chairs,  folding  stools  and  a  lit-de-repos. 
Many  of  the  arm-chairs  were  entirely  covered  with  velvet 
or  tapestry,  or,  if  the  woodwork  showed,  it  was  stained  to 
harmonize  with  the  covering  on  the  seat  and  back. 

The  twisted  columns  used  in  chairs,  bedposts,  etc.,  were 


^4.         FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

borrowed  from  Italy  and  were  very  popular.  Another 
shape  often  used  for  chair  legs  was  the  X  that  shows  Flemish 
influence.  The  lit-de-repos,  or  chaise-longue,  was  a  seat 
about  six  feet  long,  sometimes  with  arms  and  sometimes  not, 
and  with  a  mattress  and  bolster.  The  beds  were  very  elab- 
orate and  very  important  in  the  scheme  of  decoration,  as  the 
ladies  of  the  time  held  receptions  in  their  bedrooms  and  the 
king  and  nobles  gave  audiences  to  their  subjects  while  in 
bed.  These  latter  were  therefore  necessarily  furnished  with 
splendor.  The  woodwork  was  usually  covered  with  the  same 
material  as  the  curtains,  or  stained  to  harmonize.  The  can- 
opy never  reached  to  the  ceiling  but  was,  from  floor  to  top, 
about  7  ft.  3  in.  high,  and  the  bed  was  6j  ft.  square.  The 
curtains  were  arranged  on  rods  and  pulleys,  and  when  closed 
this  "lit  en  housse  "  looked  like  a  huge  square  box.  The 
counterpane,  or  "coverture  de  parade/"  was  of  the  curtain 
material.  The  four  corners  of  the  canopy  were  decorated 
with  bunches  of  plumes  or  panache,  or  with  a  carved  wooden 
ornament  called  pomme,  or  with  a  "  bouquet "  of  silk.  The 
beds  were  covered  with  rich  stuff's,  Hke  tapestry,  silk,  satin, 
velvet,  cloth-of-gold  and  silver,  etc.,  all  of  which  were  em- 
broidered or  trimmed  with  gold  or  silver  lace.  One  of  the 
features  of  a  Louis  XIII  room  was  the  tapestry  and  hang- 
ings. A  certain  look  of  dignity  was  given  to  the  rooms  by 
the  general  square  and  heavy  outlines  of  the  furniture  and 
the  huge  chimney-pieces. 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  DECORATION  IN  FRANCE      25 

The  taste  for  cabinets  kept  up  and  the  cabinets  and  presses 
were  large,  sometimes  divided  into  two  parts,  sometimes 
with  doors,  sometimes  with  open  frame  underneath.  The 
tables  were  richly  carved  and  gilded,  often  ornamented  with 
bronze  and  copper.  The  cartouche  was  used  a  great  deal  in 
decoration,  with  a  curved  surface.  This  rounded  form  ap- 
pears in  the  posts  used  in  various  kinds  of  furniture.  When 
rectangles  were  used  they  were  always  broader  than  high. 
The  garlands  of  fruit  were  heavy,  the  cornucopias  were  slen- 
der, with  an  astonishing  amount  of  fruit  pouring  from  them, 
and  the  work  was  done  in  rather  low  relief.  Carved  and 
gilded  mirrors  were  introduced  by  the  Italians  as  were  also 
sconces  and  glass  chandeliers.  It  was  a  time  of  great  mag- 
nificence, and  shadowed  forth  the  coming  glory  of  Louis 
XIV.  It  seems  a  style  well  suited  to  large  dining-rooms 
and  libraries  in  modern  houses  of  importance. 


Louis  XIV 


Louis   XIV 

IT  is  often  a  really  difficult  matter  to  decide  the  exact 
boundary  lines  between  one  period  and  another,  for  the 
new  style  shows  its  beginnings  before  the  old  one  is 
passed,  and  the  old  style  still  appears  during  the  early  years 
of  the  new  one.  It  is  an  overlapping  process  and  the  years 
of  transition  are  ones  of  great  interest.  As  one  period  fol- 
lows another  it  usually  shows  a  reaction  from  the  previous 
one;  a  somber  period  is  followed  by  a  gay  one;  the  excess 
of  ornament  in  one  is  followed  by  restraint  in  the  next.  It 
is  the  same  law  that  makes  us  want  cake  when  we  have  had 
too  much  bread  and  butter. 

The  world  has  changed  so  much  since  the  seventeenth  and 
eighteenth  centuries  that  it  seems  almost  impossible  that  we 
should  ever  again  have  great  periods  of  decoration  like  those 
of  Louis  XIV,  Louis  XV  and  Louis  XVI.  Then  the  mon- 
arch was  supreme.  ''  Uetat  c'est  moi/'  said  Louis  XIV, 
and  it  was  true.  He  established  the  great  Gobelin  works 
on  a  basis  that  made  France  the  authority  of  the  world  and 
firmly  imposed  his  taste  and  his  will  on  the  country.  'Now 
that  this  absolute  power  of  one  man  is  a  thing  of  the  past, 
we  have  the  influence  of  many  men  forming  and  molding 
something  that  may  turn  into  a  beautiful  epoch  of  decora- 

29 


&0         FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

tion,  one  that  will  have  in  it  some  of  the  feeling  that  brought 
the  French  Renaissance  to  its  height,  though  not  hke  it,  for 
we  have  the  same  respect  for  individuality  working  witliin 
the  laws  of  beauty  that  they  had. 

The  style  that  takes  its  name  from  Louis  XIV  was  one 
of  great  magnificence  and  beauty  with  dignity  and  a  certain 
solidity  in  its  splendor.  It  was  really  the  foundation  of 
the  styles  that  followed,  and  a  great  many  people  look  upon 
the  periods  of  Louis  XIV,  the  Regency,  Louis  XV  and 
Louis  XVI  as  one  great  period  with  variations,  or  ups  and 
downs  ^—  the  complete  swing  and  return  of  the  pendulum. 

Louis  XIV  was  a  man  with  a  will  of  iron  and  made  it  ab- 
solute law  during  his  long  reign  of  seventy-two  years.  His 
ideal  was  splendor,  and  he  encouraged  great  men  in  the 
intellectual  and  artistic  world  to  do  their  work,  and  shed 
their  glory  on  the  tinje.  Conde,  Turenne,  Colbert,  Moliere, 
Corneille,  La  Fontaine,  Racine,  Fenelon,  BouUe,  Le  Brun, 
are  a  few  among  the  long  and  wonderful  list.  He  was  in- 
deed Louis  the  Magnificent,  the  Sun  King. 

One  of  the  great  elements  toward  achieving  the  stupen- 
dous results  of  this  reign  was  the  establishment  of  the  "  Man- 
ufacture des  Meubles  de  la  Couronne,"  or,  as  it  is  usually 
called,  "  Manufacture  des  Gobelins."  Artists  of  all  kinds 
were  gathered  together  and  given  apartments  in  the  Louvre 
and  the  wonderfully  gifted  and  versatile  Le  Brun  was  put 
at  the  head.     Tapestry,  goldsmiths'  work,  furniture,  jew- 


LOUIS  XIV  31 

lelry,  etc.,  were  made,  and  with  the  royal  protection  and  in- 
terest France  rose  to  the  position  of  world-wide  supremacy 
in  the  arts.  Le  Brun  had  the  same  taste  and  love  of  mag- 
nificence as  Louis,  and  had  also  extraordinary  executive 
ability  and  an  almost  unlimited  capacity  for  work,  com- 
bined with  the  power  of  gathering  about  him  the  most  emi- 
nent artists  of  the  time.  Andre  Charles  Boulle  was  one, 
and  his  beautiful  cabinets,  commodes,  tables,  clocks,  etc., 
are  now  almost  priceless.  He  carried  the  inlay  of  metals, 
tortoise-shell,  ivory  and  beautiful  woods  to  its  highest  ex- 
pression, and  the  mingling  of  colors  with  the  exquisite  work- 
manship gave  most  wonderful  effects.  Sheets  of  white 
metal  or  brass  were  glued  together  and  the  pattern  was  then 
cut  out.  When  taken  apart  the  brass  scrolls  could  be  fitted 
exactly  into  the  shell  background,  and  the  shell  scrolls  into 
the  brass  background,  thus  making  two  decorations.  The 
shell  background  was  the  more  highly  prized.  The  designs 
usually  had  a  Renaissance  feehng.  The  metal  was  softened 
in  outhne  by  engraving,  and  then  ormolu  mounts  were 
added.  Ormolu  or  gilt  bronze  mounts,  formed  one  of  the 
great  decorations  of  furniture.  The  most  exquisite  work- 
manship was  lavished  on  them,  and  after  they  had  been  cast 
they  were  cut  and  carved  and  polished  until  they  became 
worthy  ornaments  for  beautiful  inlaid  tables  and  cabinets. 
The  taste  for  elaborately  carved  and  gilded  frames  to 
diairs,    tables,    mirrors,    etc.,    developed    rapidly.     Mirrors 


S3         FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

were  made  by  the  Gobelins  works  and  were  much  less  ex- 
pensive than  the  Venetian  ones  of  the  previous  reign.  Walls 
were  painted  and  covered  with  gold  with  a  lavish  hand. 
Tapestries  were  truly  magnificent  with  gold  and  silver 
threads  adding  richness  to  their  beauty  of  color,  and  were 
used  purely  as  a  decoration  as  well  as  in  the  old  utilitarian 
way  of  keeping  out  the  cold.  The  Gobelins  works  made  at 
this  time  some  of  the  most  beautiful  tapestries  the  world 
has  known.  The  massive  chimney-pieces  were  superseded 
by  the  ''ijetite-cheminee"  and  had  great  mirrors  over  them  or 
elaborate  over-mantels.  The  whole  air  of  furnishing  and 
decoration  changed  to  one  of  greater  hghtness  and  bril- 
liancy. The  ideal  was  that  everything,  no  matter  how 
small,  must  be  beautiful,  and  we  find  the  most  exquisite 
workmanship  lavished  on  window-locks  and  door-knobs. 

In  the  early  style  of  Louis  XIV,  we  find  many  trophies 
of  war  and  mythological  subjects  used  in  the  decorative 
schemes.  The  second  style  of  this  period  was  a  softening 
and  refining  of  the  earlier  one,  becoming  more  and  more 
delicate  until  it  merged  into  the  time  of  the  Regency.  It 
was  during  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV  that  the  craze  for 
Chinese  decoration  first  appeared.  La  Chinoiserie  it  was 
called,  and  it  has  daintiness  and  a  curious  fascination  about 
it,  but  many  inappropriate  things  were  done  in  its  name. 
The  furniture  of  the  time  was  firmly  placed  upon  the  ground, 
the  arm-chairs  had  strong  straining-rails,  square  or  curved 


One  of  a  set  of  three  rare  Louis  XIV  chairs,  beautifully  carved  and  gilded,  and 
said  to  have  belonged  to  the  great  Louis  himself 


^" 

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~        OS 


LOUIS  XIV  83 

backs,  scroll  arms  carved  and  partly  upholstered  and  stuffed 
seats  and  backs.  The  legs  of  chairs  were  usually  tapering 
in  form  and  ornamented  with  gilding,  or  marquetry,  or 
richly  carved,  and  later  the  feet  ended  in  a  carved  leaf  de- 
sign. Some  of  the  straining-rails  were  in  the  shape  of  the 
letter  X,  with  an  ornament  at  the  intersection,  and  often 
there  was  a  wooden  molding  below  the  seat  in  place  of  fringe. 
Many  carved  and  gilded  chairs  had  gold  fringe  and  braid 
and  were  covered  with  velvet,  tapestry  or  damask. 

There  were  many  new  and  elaborate  styles  of  beds  that 
came  into  fashion  at  this  time.  There  was  the  lit  d'ange, 
which  had  a  canopy  that  did  not  extend  over  the  entire  bed, 
and  had  no  pillars  at  the  foot,  the  curtains  were  drawn  back 
at  the  head  and  the  counterpane  went  over  the  foot  of  the 
bed.  There  was  the  lit  d'alcove,  the  lit  de  hout,  lit  clos,  lit 
de  glace,  with  a  mirror  framed  in  the  ceiling,  and  many 
others.  A  lit  de  parade  was  like  the  great  bed  of  Louis  XIV 
at  Versailles. 

Both  the  tall  and  bracket  clocks  showed  tliis  same  love  of 
ornament  and  they  were  carved  and  gilded  and  enriched  with 
chased  brass  and  wonderful  inlay  by  BouUe.  The  dials  also 
were  beautifully  designed.  Consoles,  tables,  cabinets,  etc., 
were  all  treated  in  this  elaborate  way.  Many  of  the  ceilings 
were  painted  by  great  artists,  and  those  at  Versailles, 
painted  by  Le  Brun  and  others,  are  good  examples.  There 
was  always  a  combination  of  the  straight  hne  and  the  curve. 


84  FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

a  strong  feeling  of  balance,  and  a  profusion  of  ornament  in 
the  way  of  scrolls,  garlands,  shells,  the  acanthus,  anthemion, 
etc.  The  moldings  were  wide  and  sometimes  a  torus  of 
laurel  leaves  was  used,  but  in  spite  of  the  great  amount  of 
ornament  lavished  on  everything,  there  is  the  feeling  of  bal- 
ance and  symmetry  and  strength  that  gives  dignity  and 
beauty. 

Louis  was  indeed  fortunate  in  having  the  great  Colbert 
for  one  of  his  ministers.  He  was  a  man  of  gigantic  intel- 
lect, capable  of  originating  and  executing  vast  schemes.  It 
was  to  his  policy  of  state  patronage,  wisely  directed,  and 
energetically  and  lavishly  carried  out,  that  we  owe  the 
magnificent  achievements  of  this  period. 

Everywhere  the  impression  is  given  of  brilliancy  and  splen- 
dor —  gold  on  the  walls,  gold  on  the  furniture,  rich  velvets 
and  damasks  and  tapestries,  marbles  and  marquetry  and 
painting,  furniture  worth  a  king's  ransom.  It  all  formed 
a  beautiful  and  fitting  background  for  the  proud  king,  who 
could  do  no  wrong,  and  the  dazzling,  care-free  people  who 
played  their  brilliant,  selfish  parts  in  the  midst  of  its  splen- 
dor. They  never  gave  a  thought  to  the  great  mass  of  the 
common  people  who  were  over-burdened  with  taxation ;  they 
never  heard  the  first  faint  mutterings  of  discontent  which 
were  to  grow,  ever  louder  and  louder,  until  the  blood  and 
horror  of  the  Revolution  paid  the  debt. 


T^he  Regency  and  Louis  XV 


The  Regency  and  Louis  XV 

WHEN  Louis  XIV  died  in  1715,  his  great- 
grandson,  Louis  XV,  was  but  five  years  old,  so 
Philippe,  Due  d'Orleans,  became  Regent.  Dur- 
ing the  last  years  of  Louis  XIV's  life  the  court  had  resented 
more  or  less  the  gloom  cast  over  it  by  the  influence  of  Ma- 
dame de  Maintenon,  and  turned  with  avidity  to  the  new  ruler. 
He  was  a  vain  and  selfish  man,  feeling  none  of  the  responsi- 
bilities of  his  position,  and  living  chiefly  for  pleasure.  The 
change  in  decoration  had  been  foreshadowed  in  the  closing 
years  of  the  previous  reign,  and  it  is  often  hard  to  say 
whether  a  piece  of  furniture  is  late  Louis  XIV  or  Regency. 
The  new  gained  rapidly  over  the  old,  and  the  magnificent 
and  stately  extravagance  of  Louis  XIV  turned  into  the 
daintier  but  no  less  extravagant  and  rich  decoration  of  the 
Regency  and  Louis  XV.  One  of  the  noticeable  changes 
was  that  rooms  were  smaller,  and  the  reign  of  the  boudoir 
began.  It  has  been  truly  said  that  after  the  death  of  Louis 
XIV  "  came  the  substitution  of  the  finery  of  coquetry  for 
the  worship  of  the  great  in  style."  There  was  greater  va- 
riety in  the  designs  of  furniture  and  a  greater  use  of  carved 
metal  ornament  and  gilt  bronze,  beautifully  chased.  The 
ornaments  took  many  shapes,  such  as  shells,  shaped  fohage, 

37 


88         FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

roses,  seaweed,  strings  of  pearls,  etc.,  and  at  its  best  there 
was  great  beauty  in  the  treatment. 

It  was  during  the  Regency  that  the  great  artist  and  sculp- 
tor in  metal,  Charles  Cressant,  flourished.  He  was  made 
ebeniste  of  the  Regent,  and  his  influence  was  always  to  keep 
up  the  traditions  when  the  reaction  against  the  severe  might 
easily  have  led  to  degeneration.  There  are  beautiful  exam- 
ples of  his  work  in  many  of  the  great  collections  of  furniture, 
notably  the  wonderful  commode  in  the  Wallace  collection. 
The  dragon  mounts  of  ormolu  on  it  show  the  strong  influence 
the  Orient  had  at  the  time.  He  often  used  the  figures  of 
women  with  great  delicacy  on  the  corners  of  his  furniture, 
and  he  also  used  tortoise-shell  and  many  colored  woods  in 
marquetry,  but  his  most  wonderful  work  was  done  in  brass 
and  gilded  bronze. 

In  1723,  when  Louis  was  thirteen  years  old,  he  was  de- 
clared of  age  and  became  king.  The  influence  of  the  Re- 
gent was,  naturally,  still  strong,  and  unfortunately  did  much 
to  form  the  character  of  the  young  king.  Selfishness,  pleas- 
ure, and  low  ideals,  were  the  order  of  court  life,  and  paved 
the  way  for  the  debased  taste  for  rococo  ornament  which  was 
one  marked  phase  of  the  style  of  Louis  XV. 

The  great  influence  of  the  Orient  at  this  time  is  very  no- 
ticeable. There  had  been  a  beginning  of  it  in  the  previous 
reign,  but  during  the  Regency  and  the  reign  of  Louis  XV 
it  became  very   marked.     ''  Singerie"  and   "Chinoiserie*' 


THE  REGENCY  AND  LOUIS  XV  3& 

were  the  rage,  and  gay  little  monkeys  clambered  and  climbed 
over  walls  and  furniture  with  a  careless  abandon  that  had  a 
certain  fascination  and  charm  in  spite  of  their  being  mon- 
keys. The  "  Salon  des  Singes  "  in  the  Chateau  de  Chantilly 
gives  one  a  good  idea  of  this.  The  style  was  easily  over- 
done and  did  not  last  a  great  while. 

During  this  time  of  Oriental  influence  lacquer  was  much 
used  and  beautiful  lacquer  panels  became  one  of  the  great 
features  of  French  furniture.  Pieces  of  furniture  were  sent 
to  China  and  Japan  to  be  lacquered  and  this,  combined  with 
the  expense  of  importing  it,  led  many  men  in  France  to  try 
to  find  out  the  Oriental  secret.  Le  Sieur  Dagly  was  sup- 
posed to  have  imported  the  secret  and  was  established  at  the 
Gobelins  works  where  he  made  what  was  called  "  vernis  de 
Gobelins/' 

The  Martin  family  evolved  a  most  characteristically 
French  style  of  decoration  from  the  Chinese  and  Japanese 
lacquers.  The  varnish  they  made,  called  "^  vernis  Martin/* 
gave  its  name  to  the  furniture  decorated  by  them,  which  was 
well  suited  to  the  dainty  boudoirs  of  the  day.  All  kinds  of 
furniture  were  decorated  in  this  way  - —  sedan  chairs  and  even 
snuff-boxes,  until  at  last  the  supply  became  so  great  that 
the  fashion  died.  There  are  many  charming  examples  of  it 
to  be  seen  in  museums  and  private  collections,  but  the  mod- 
ern garish  copies  of  it  in  many  shops  give  no  idea  of  the 
charm  of  the  original.     Watteau's   delightful  decorations 


40  FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

also  give  the  true  spirit  of  the  time,  with  their  gayety  and 
frivolity  showing  the  Arcadian  affectations  ^—  the  fad  of  the 
moment. 

As  the  time  passed  decoration  grew  more  and  more  ornate, 
and  the  followers  of  Cressant  exaggerated  his  traits.  One 
of  these  was  Jules  Aurele  Meissonier,  an  Italian  by  birth, 
who  brought  with  him  to  France  the  decadent  Italian  taste. 
He  had  a  most  marvelous  power  of  invention  and  lavished 
ornament  on  everything,  carrying  the  rocaille  style  to  its  ut- 
most limit.  He  broke  up  all  straight  lines,  put  curves  and 
convolutions  everywhere,  and  rarely  had  two  sides  alike,  for 
symmetry  had  no  charms  for  him.  The  curved  endive  dec- 
oration was  used  in  architraves,  in  the  panels  of  overdoors 
and  panel  moldings,  everywhere  it  possibly  could  be  used,  in 
fact.  His  work  was  in  great  demand  by  the  king  and  nobil- 
ity. He  designed  furniture  of  all  kinds,  altars,  sledges, 
candelabra  and  a  great  amount  of  silversmith's  work,  and 
also  published  a  book  of  designs.  Unfortunately  it  is  this 
rococo  style  which  is  meant  by  many  people  when  they  speak 
of  the  style  of  Louis  XV. 

Louis  XV  furniture  and  decoration  at  its  best  period  is 
extremely  beautiful,  and  the  foremost  architects  of  the  day 
were  undisturbed  by  the  demand  for  rococo,  knowing  it  was 
a  vulgarism  of  taste  which  would  pass.  In  France,  bad  as 
it  was,  it  never  went  to  such  lengths  as  it  did  in  Italy  and 
Spain. 


This  valuable  example  of  Regency  paneling  can  be   seen  at  the   Metropolitan 
Museum  of  Art,  New  York 


THE  REGENCY  AND  LOUIS  XV  41 

The  easy  generalization  of  the  girl  who  said  the  difference 
between  the  styles  of  Louis  XV  and  Louis  XVI  was  like 
the  difference  in  hair,  one  was  curly  and  one  was  straight, 
has  more  than  a  grain  of  truth  in  it.  The  curved  line  was 
used  persistently  until  the  last  years  of  Louis  XV's  time,  but 
it  was  a  beautiful,  gracious  curve,  elaborate,  and  in  furni- 
ture, richly  carved,  which  was  used  during  the  best  period. 
The  decline  came  when  good  taste  was  lost  in  the  craze  for 
rococo. 

Chairs  were  carved  and  gilded,  or  painted,  or  lacquered, 
and  also  beautiful  natural  woods  were  used.  The  sofas  and 
chairs  had  a  general  square  appearance,  but  the  framework 
was  much  curved  and  carved  and  gilded.  They  were  up- 
holstered in  silks,  brocades,  velvets,  damasks  in  flowered  de- 
signs, edged  with  braid.  Gobelin,  Aubusson  and  Beauvais 
tapestry,  with  Watteau  designs,  were  also  used.  Nothing 
more  dainty  or  charming  could  be  found  than  the  tapestry 
seats  and  chair  backs  and  screens  which  were  woven  espe- 
cially to  fit  certain  pieces  of  furniture.  The  tapestry 
weavers  now  used  thousands  of  colors  in  place  of  the  nine- 
teen used  ixx  the  early  days,  and  this  enabled  them  to  copy 
with  great  exactness  the  charming  pictures  of  Watteau  and 
Boucher.  The  idea  of  sitting  on  beautiful  ladies  and  gentle- 
men airily  playing  at  country  life,  does  not  appeal  to  our 
modern  taste,  but  it  seems  to  be  in  accord  with  those  days. 

Desks  were  much  used  and  were  conveniently  arranged 


43         FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

with  drawers,  pigeon-holes  and  shelves,  and  roll-top  desks 
were  made  at  this  time.  Commodes  were  painted,  or  richly 
ornamented  with  lacquer  panels,  or  panels  of  rosewood  or 
violet  wood,  and  all  were  embellished  with  wonderful  bronze 
or  ormolu.  Many  pieces  of  furniture  were  inlaid  with  lovely 
Sevres  plaques,  a  manner  which  is  not  always  pleasing  in 
effect.  There  were  many  different  and  elaborate  kinds 
of  beds,  taking  their  names  from  their  form  and  drap- 
ing. "  Lit  d'anglaise  "  had  a  back,  head-board  and  foot- 
board, and  could  be  used  as  a  sofa.  ''  Lit  a  Romaine  "  had 
a  canopy  and  four  festooned  curtains,  and  so  on. 

The  most  common  form  of  salon  was  rectangular,  with 
proportions  of  4  to  3,  or  2  to  1.  There  were  also  many 
square,  round,  octagonal  and  oval  salons,  these  last  being 
among  the  most  beautiful.  They  all  were  decorated  with 
great  richness,  the  walls  being  paneled  with  carved  and 
gilded  —  or  partially  gilded  = —  wood.  Tapestry  and  brocade 
and  painted  panels  were  used.  Large  mirrors  with  elab- 
orate frames  were  placed  over  the  mantels,  with  panels  above 
reaching  to  the  cornice  or  cove  of  the  ceiling,  and  large  mir- 
rors were  also  used  over  console  tables  and  as  panels.  The 
paneled  overdoors  reached  to  the  cornice,  and  windows  were 
also  treated  in  this  way.  Windows  and  doors  were  not 
looked  upon  merely  as  openings  to  admit  air  and  light  and 
human  beings,  but  formed  a  part  of  the  scheme  of  decoration 
of  the  room.     There  v/ere  beautiful  brackets  and  candelabra 


THE  REGENCY  AND  LOUIS  XV  43 

of  ormolu  to  light  the  rooms,  and  the  boudoirs  and  salons, 
with  their  white  and  gold  and  beautifully  decorated  walls 
and  gilded  furniture,  gave  an  air  of  gayety  and  richness,  ex- 
travagance and  beauty. 

An  apartment  in  the  time  of  Louis  XV  usually  had  a 
vestibule,  rather  severely  decorated  with  columns  or  pilasters 
and  often  statues  in  niches.  The  first  ante-room  was  a  wait- 
ing-room for  servants  and  was  plainly  treated,  the  wood- 
work being  the  chief  decoration.  The  second  ante-room  had 
mirrors,  console  tables,  carved  and  gilded  woodwork,  and 
sometimes  tapestry  was  used  above  a  wainscot.  Dining- 
rooms  were  elaborate,  often  having  fountains  and  plants  in 
the  niches  near  the  buffet.  Bedrooms  usually  had  an  alcove, 
and  the  room,  not  counting  the  alcove,  was  an  exact  square. 
The  bed  faced  the  windows  and  a  large  mirror  over  a  con- 
sole table  was  just  opposite  it.  The  chimney  faced  the  prin- 
cipal entrance. 

A  "  chamhre  en  niche  "  was  a  room  where  the  bed  space 
was  not  so  large  as  an  alcove.  The  designs  for  sides  of 
rooms  by  Meissonier,  Blondel,  Briseux  Cuilles  and  others 
give  a  good  idea  of  the  arrangement  and  proportions  of  the 
different  rooms.  The  cabinets  or  studies,  and  the  garde 
robes,  were  entered  usually  from  doors  near  the  alcove.  The 
ceilings  were  painted  by  Boucher  and  others  in  soft  and 
charming  colors,  with  cupids  playing  in  the  clouds,  and  other 
subjects  of  the  kind.     Great  attention  was  given  to  clocks 


4.4.  FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

and  they  formed  an  important  and  beautiful  part  of  the  dec- 
oration. 

The  natural  consequence  of  the  period  of  excessive  rococo 
with  its  superabundance  of  curves  and  ornament,  was  that, 
during  the  last  years  of  Louis's  reign,  the  reaction  slowly 
began  to  make  itself  felt.  There  was  no  sudden  change  to 
the  use  of  the  straight  line,  but  people  were  tired  of  so  much 
lavishness  and  motion  in  their  decoration.  There  were  other 
influences  also  at  work,  for  Robert  Adam  had,  in  England, 
established  the  classic  taste,  and  the  excavations  at  Pompeii 
were  causing  widespread  interest  and  admiration.  The  fact 
is  proved  that  what  we  call  Louis  XVI  decoration  was  well 
known  before  the  death  of  Louis  XV,  by  his  furnishing  Lu- 
ciennes  for  Madam  Du  Barri  in  almost  pure  Louis  XVI 
style. 


Louis  XVI 


Louis  XVI 

LOUIS  XVI  came  to  the  throne  in  1774,  and 
reigned  for  nineteen  years,  until  that  fatal  year  of 
'93.  He  was  kind,  benign,  and  simple,  and  had  no 
sympathy  with  the  life  of  the  court  during  the  preceding 
reign.  Marie  Antoinette  disliked  the  great  pomp  of  court 
functions  and  liked  to  play  at  the  simple  life,  so  shepherd- 
esses, shepherd's  crooks,  hats,  wreaths  of  roses,  watering-pots 
and  many  other  rustic  symbols  became  the  fashion. 

Marie  Antionette  was  but  fifteen  years  old  when  in  1770 
she  came  to  France  as  a  bride,  and  it  is  hardly  reasonable 
to  think  that  the  taste  of  a  young  girl  would  have  originated 
a  great  period  of  decoration,  although  the  idea  is  firmly  fixed 
in  many  minds.  It  is  known  that  the  transition  period  was 
well  advanced  before  she  became  queen,  but  there  is  no  doubt 
that  her  simpler  taste  and  that  of  Louis  led  them  to  ac- 
cept with  joy  the  classical  ideas  of  beauty  which  were  slowly 
gaining  ground.  As  dauphin  and  dauphiness  they  naturally 
had  a  great  following,  and  as  king  and  queen  their  taste  was 
paramount,  and  the  style  became  established. 

Architecture  became  more  simple  and  interior  decoration 
followed  suit.  The  restfulness  and  beauty  of  the  straight  line 
appeared  again,  and  ornament  took  its  proper  place  as  a  dec- 

47 


m  FUKNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

oration  of  the  construction,  and  was  subordinate  to  its  de- 
sign. During  the  period  of  Louis  XVI  the  rooms  had  rec- 
tangular panels  formed  by  simpler  moldings  than  in  the 
previous  reign,  with  pilasters  of  delicate  design  between  the 
panels.  The  overdoors  and  mantels  were  carried  to  the  cor- 
nice and  the  paneling  was  usually  of  oak,  painted  in  soft 
colors  or  white  and  gilded.  Walls  were  also  covered  with 
tapestry  and  brocade.  Some  of  the  most  characteristic  marks 
of  the  style  are  the  straight  tapering  legs  of  the  furniture, 
usually  fluted,  with  some  carving.  Fluted  columns  and 
pilasters  often  had  metal  quills  filHng  them  for  a  part  of  the 
distance  at  top  and  bottom,  leaving  a  plain  channel  between. 
The  laurel  leaf  was  used  in  wreath  form,  and  bell  flowers 
were  used  on  the  legs  of  furniture.  Oval  medallions,  sur- 
mounted by  a  wi'eath  of  flowers  and  a  bow-knot,  appear  very 
often,  and  in  about  1780  round  medallions  were  used.  Fur- 
niture was  covered  with  brocade  or  tapestry,  with  shepherds 
and  shepherdesses  or  pastoral  scenes  for  the  design.  The 
gayest  kinds  of  designs  were  used  in  the  silks  and  brocades; 
ribbons  and  bow-knots  and  interlacing  stripes  with  flowers 
and  rustic  symbols  scattered  over  them.  Curtains  were  less 
festooned  and  cut  with  great  exactness.  The  canopies  of 
beds  became  smaller,  until  often  only  a  ring  or  crown  held 
the  draperies,  and  it  became  the  fashion  to  place  the  bed  side- 
ways, ''  vu  de  face/' 


From   Versailles.      Beautiful   paneling   was   one   of   the   dis- 
tinctive features  of  all  periods  of  the  18th  century 


LOUIS  XVI  49 

There  was  a  great  deal  of  beautiful  ornament  in  gilded 
bronze  and  ormolu  on  the  furniture,  and  many  colored  woods 
were  used  in  marquetry.  The  fashion  of  using  Sevres  plaques 
in  inlay  was  continued.  There  was  a  great  deal  of  white 
and  colored  marble  used  and  very  fine  ironwork  was  made. 
Riesener,  Roentgen,  Gouthiere,  Fragonard  and  Boucher  are 
some  of  the  names  that  stand  out  most  distinctly  as  authors 
of  the  beautiful  decorations  of  the  time.  Marie  Antoinette's 
boudoir  at  Fontainebleau  is  a  perfect  example  of  the  style 
and  many  of  the  other  rooms  both  there  and  at  the  Petit 
Trianon  show  its  great  beaut}'-,  gayety  and  dignity  combined 
with  its  richness  and  magnificence. 

The  influence  of  Pompeii  must  not  be  overlooked  in  study- 
ing the  style  of  Louis  XVI,  for  it  appeared  in  much  of  the 
decoration  of  the  time.  The  beautiful  little  boudoir  of  the 
Marquise  de  Serilly  is  a  charming  example  of  its  adaptation. 
The  problem  of  bad  proportion  is  also  most  interestingly  over- 
come. The  room  was  too  high  for  its  size,  so  it  was  divided 
into  four  arched  openings  separated  by  carved  pilasters,  and 
the  walls  covered  with  paintings.  The  ceiling  was  darker  than 
the  walls,  which  made  it  seem  lower,  and  the  whole  color 
scheme  was  so  arranged  that  the  feeling  of  extreme  height 
was  lessened.  The  mantel  is  a  beautiful  example  of  the 
period.     This  room  was  furnished  about  1780-82. 

Compared  to  the  lavish  curves  of  the  style  of  Louis  XV, 


60         FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

the  fine  outlines  and  the  beautiful  ornament  of  Louis  XVI 
appear  to  some  people  cold,  but  if  they  look  carefully  at  the 
matter,  they  will  find  them  not  really  so.  The  warmth  of 
the  GalKc  temperament  still  shows  through  the  new  garb,  giv- 
ing life  and  beauty  to  the  dainty  but  strong  furniture. 

If  one  studies  the  examples  of  the  styles  of  Louis  XIV, 
Louis  XV  and  Louis  XVI  that  one  finds  in  the  great  palaces, 
collections,  museums  and  books  of  prints  and  photographs, 
one  will  see  that  the  wonderful  foundation  laid  by  Louis 
XIV  was  still  there  in  the  other  two  reigns.  During  the 
time  of  Louis  XVI  the  pose  of  rustic  simplicity  was  a  very 
sophisticated  pose  indeed,  but  the  reaction  from  the  rocaille 
style  of  Louis  XV  led  to  one  of  the  most  beautiful  styles  of 
decoration  that  the  world  has  seen.  It  had  dignity,  true 
beauty  and  the  joy  of  life  expressed  in  it. 


T^he  Empire 


The  Empire 


THE  French  Revolution  made  a  tremendous  change  in 
the  production  of  beautiful  furniture,  as  royalty  and 
the  nobility  could  no  longer  encourage  it.  Many  of 
the  great  artists  died  in  poverty  and  many  of  them  went  to 
other  countries  where  life  was  more  secure. 

After  the  Revolution  there  was  wholesale  destruction  of 
the  wonderful  works  of  art  which  had  cost  such  vast  sums  to 
collect.  Nothing  was  to  remain  that  would  remind  the 
people  of  departed  kings  and  queens,  and  a  committee  on  art 
was  appointed  to  make  selections  of  what  was  to  be  saved 
and  what  was  to  be  destroyed.  That  committee  of  "  tragic 
comedians  "  set  up  a  new  standard  of  art  criticism;  it  was  not 
the  artistic  merits  of  a  piece  of  tapestry,  for  instance,  that 
interested  them,  but  whether  a  king  or  queen  dared  show  their 
heads  upon  it.  If  so,  into  the  flames  it  went.  Thousands  of 
priceless  things  were  destroyed  before  they  finished  their 
dreadful  work. 

When  Napoleon  came  into  power  he  turned  to  ancient 
Rome  for  inspiration.  The  Imperial  Csesars  became  his 
ideal  and  gave  him  a  wide  field  in  which  to  display  his  love 
for  splendor,  uncontrolled  by  any  true  artistic  sense.  It  gave 
decoration   a   blow   from   which   it   was   hard   to   recover. 

53 


54  FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

Massive  furniture  without  real  beauty  of  line,  loaded  with 
ormolu,  took  the  place  of  the  old.  The  furniture  was  simple 
in  construction  with  little  carving,  until  later  when  all  kinds 
of  animal  heads  and  claws,  and  animals  never  seen  by  man, 
and  horns  of  plenty,  were  used  to  support  tables  and  chairs 
and  sofas.  Everywhere  one  turned  the  feeling  of  martial 
grandeur  was  in  the  air.  Ormolu  mounts  of  bay  wreaths, 
torches,  eagles,  military  emblems  and  trophies,  winged 
figures,  the  sphinx,  the  bee,  and  the  initial  N,  were  used  on 
furniture,  and  these  same  motives  were  used  in  wall  decora- 
tion. The  furniture  was  left  the  natural  color  of  the  wood, 
and  mahogany,  rosewood,  and  ebony,  were  used.  Veneer 
was  also  extensively  used.  The  front  legs  of  chairs  were 
usually  straight,  and  the  back  legs  slightly  curved.  Beds 
were  massive,  with  head  and  foot-board  of  even  height,  and 
the  tops  rolled  over  into  a  scroll.  Swans  were  used  on  the 
arms  of  chairs  and  sofas  and  the  sides  of  beds.  Tables  were 
often  round,  with  tripod  legs ;  in  fact,  the  tripod  was  a  great 
favorite.  There  was  a  great  deal  of  inlay  of  the  favorite 
emblems  but  little  carving.  Plain  columns  with  Doric  caps 
and  metal  ornaments  were  used.  The  change  in  the  use  of 
color  was  very  marked,  for  deep  brown,  blue  and  other  dark 
colors  were  used  instead  of  the  light  and  gay  ones  of  the  pre- 
vious period.  The  materials  used  were  usually  of  solid  colors 
with  a  design  in  golden  yellow,  a  wreath,  or  a  torch,  or  the  bee, 
or  one  of  the  other  favorite  emblems  being  used  in  a  spot 


The    bed    of   Josephine 


THE  EMPIRE  55 

design,  or  powdered  on.     Some  of  the  color  combinations  in 
the  rooms  we  read  of  sound  quite  alarming. 

Since  the  time  of  the  Empire,  France  has  done  as  the  rest 
of  the  world  has,  gone  without  any  special  style. 


English  Furniture  from  Gothic  Days  to 
the  Period  of  Queen  Anne 


i 


English    Furniture  from    Gothic    Days 
to  the  Period  of  Queen  Anne 

THE  early  history  of  furniture  in  all  countries  is  very 
much  the  same  —  there  is  not  any.  We  know  about 
kings  and  queens,  and  war  and  sudden  death,  and 
fortresses  and  pjTamids,  but  of  that  which  the  people  used 
for  furniture  we  know  very  little.  Research  has  revealed 
the  mention  in  old  manuscripts  once  in  a  while  of  benches  and 
chests,  and  the  Bayeux  tapestry  and  old  seals  show  us  that 
William  the  Conquerer  and  Richard  Coeur  de  Lion  sat  on 
chairs,  even  if  they  were  not  very  promising  ones,  but  at  best 
it  is  all  very  vague.  It  is  natural  to  suppose  that  the  early 
Saxons  had  furniture  of  some  kind,  for,  as  the  remains  of 
Saxon  metalwork  show  great  skill,  it  is  probable  they  had  skill 
also  in  woodworking. 

In  England,  as  in  France,  the  first  pieces  of  furniture  that 
we  can  be  sure  of  are  chests  and  benches.  They  served  all 
purposes  apparently,  for  the  family  slept  on  them  by  night 
and  used  them  for  seats  and  tables  by  day.  The  bedding 
was  kept  in  the  chests,  and  when  traveling  had  to  be  done 
all  the  family  possessions  were  packed  in  them.  There  is 
an  old  chest  at  Stoke  d'Abernon  church,  dating  from  the 
thirteenth  century,  that  has  a  little  carving  on  it,  and  another 

59 


60  FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

at  Brampton  church  of  the  twelfth  or  thirteenth  century 
that  has  iron  decorations.  Some  chests  show  great  freedom 
in  the  carving,  St.  George  and  the  Dragon  and  other  stories 
being  carved  in  high  rehef. 

Nearly  all  the  existing  specimens  of  Gothic  furniture  are 
ecclesiastical,  but  there  are  a  few  that  were  evidently  for 
household  use.  These  show  distinctly  the  architectural  treat- 
ment of  design  in  the  furniture.  Chairs  were  not  commonly 
used  until  the  sixteenth  century.  Our  distinguished  an- 
cestors decided  that  one  chair  in  a  house  was  enough,  and  that 
was  for  the  master,  while  his  family  and  friends  sat  on 
benches  and  chests.  It  is  a  long  step  in  comfort  and  manners 
from  the  fifteenth  to  the  twentieth  century.  Later  the  guest 
of  honor  was  given  the  chair,  and  from  that  may  come  the 
saying  that  a  speaker  "  takes  the  chair."  Gothic  tables  were 
probably  supported  by  trestles,  and  beds  were  probably  very 
much  like  the  early  sixteenth  century  beds  in  general  shape. 
There  were  cupboards  and  armoires  also,  but  examples  are 
very  rare.  From  an  old  historical  document  we  learn  that 
Henry  III,  in  1233,  ordered  the  sheriff  to  attend  to  the 
painting  of  the  wainscoted  chamber  in  Winchester  Castle 
and  to  see  that  "  the  pictures  and  histories  were  the  same  as 
before."  Another  order  is  for  having  the  wall  of  the  king's 
chamber  at  Westminster  "  painted  a  good  green  color  in  imi- 
tation of  a  curtain."  These  painted  walls  and  stained  glass 
that  we  know  they  had,  and  the  tapestry,  must  have  given  a 


1 


An  Apcstles  bed  of  the  Tudor  period,  so-called  from  the  carved 
panels  of  the  back.  The  over  elaboration  of  the  late  Tudor  work 
corresponded   in   time   with    France's    deterioration   in   the    reign    of 

Henry  IV 


ENGLISH  FURNITURE  61 

cheerful  color  scheme  to  the  houses  of  the  wealthy  class  even 
if  there  was  not  much  comfort. 

The  history  of  the  great  houses  of  England,  and  also  the 
smaller  manor-houses,  is  full  of  interest  in  connection  with 
the  study  of  furniture.  There  are  many  manor-houses  that 
show  all  the  characteristics  of  the  Gothic,  Renaissance,  Tudor 
and  Jacobean  periods,  and  from  them  we  can  learn  much 
of  the  life  of  the  times.  The  early  ones  show  absolute  sim- 
plicity in  the  arrangement,  one  large  hall  for  everything, 
and  later  a  small  room  or  two  added.  The  fire  was  on  the 
floor  and  the  smoke  wandered  around  until  it  found  its  way 
out  at  the  opening,  or  louvre,  in  the  roof.  Then  a  chimney 
was  built  at  the  dais  end  of  the  hall,  and  the  mantelpiece  be- 
came an  important  part  of  the  decoration.  The  hall  was 
divided  by  *'  screens  "  into  smaller  rooms,  leaving  the  re- 
mainder for  retainers,  and  causing  the  clergy  to  inveigh 
against  the  new  custom  of  the  lord  of  the  manor  "  eating 
in  secret  places."  The  staircase  developed  from  the  early 
winding  stair  about  a  newel  or  post  to  the  beautiful  broad 
stairs  of  the  Tudor  period.  These  were  usually  six  or  seven 
feet  broad,  with  about  six  wide  easy  steps  and  then  a  landing, 
and  the  carving  on  the  balusters  was  often  very  elaborate 
and  sometimes  very  beautiful  ^^  a  ladder  raised  to  the  nth. 
power. 

Slowly  the  Gothic  period  died  in  England  and  slowly  the 
Renaissance  took  its  place.     There  was  never  the  gayety  of 


62  FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

decorative  treatment  that  we  find  in  France,  but  the  English 
workmen,  while  keeping  their  own  individuality,  learned  a 
tremendous  amount  from  the  Italians  who  came  to  the  coun- 
try. Their  influence  is  shown  in  the  Henry  Vllth  Chapel 
in  Westminster  Abbey,  and  in  the  old  part  of  Hampton 
Court  Palace,  built  by  Cardinal  Wolsey. 

The  religious  troubles  between  Henry  VIII  and  the  Pope 
and  the  change  of  religion  helped  to  drive  the  Italians  from 
the  country,  so  the  Renaissance  did  not  get  such  a  firm  foot- 
hold in  England  as  it  did  in  France.  The  mingling  of 
Gothic  and  Renaissance  forms  what  we  call  the  Tudor  period. 
During  the  time  of  Elizabeth  all  trace  of  Gothic  disappeared, 
and  the  influence  of  the  Germans  and  Flemings  who  came 
to  the  country  in  great  numbers,  helped  to  shorten  the  in- 
fluence of  the  Renaissance.  The  over-elaboration  of  the 
late  Tudor  time  corresponded  with  the  deterioration  shown 
in  France  in  the  time  of  Henry  IV.  The  Hall  of  Gray's 
Inn,  the  Halls  of  Oxford,  the  Charterhouse  and  the  Hall 
of  the  Middle  Temple  are  all  fine  examples  of  the  Tudor 
period. 

We  find  very  few  names  of  furniture  makers  of  those 
days ;  in  fact,  there  are  very  few  names  known  in  connection 
with  the  buildings  themselves.  The  word  architect  was  little 
used  until  after  the  Renaissance.  The  owner  and  the  "  sur- 
veyor "  were  the  people  responsible,  and  the  plans,  directions 
and  details  given  to  the  workmen  were  astonishingly  meager. 


ENGLISH  FURNITURE  63 

[The  great  charm  that  we  all  feel  in  the  Tudor  and  Ja- 
cobean periods  is  largely  due  to  the  beautiful  paneled  walls. 
iTheir  woodwork  has  a  color  that  only  age  can  give  and  that 
no  stain  can  copy.  The  first  panels  were  longer  than 
the  later  ones.  Wide  use  was  made  of  the  beautiful  "  linen- 
fold  "  design  in  the  wainscoting,  and  there  was  also  much 
elaborate  carving  and  strapwork.  Scenes  like  the  tempta- 
tion of  Adam  and  Eve  were  represented,  heads  in  circular 
medallions,  and  simply  decorative  designs  were  used.  In 
the  days  of  Elizabeth  it  became  the  fashion  to  have  the 
carving  at  the  top  of  the  paneling  with  plain  panels  below. 
Tudor  and  Jacobean  mantelpieces  were  most  elaborate  and 
were  of  wood,  stone,  or  marble  richly  carved,  to  say  nothing 
of  the  beautiful  plaster  ones,  and  there  are  many  fine  ex- 
amples in  existence.  They  were  fond  of  figure  decoration, 
and  many  subjects  were  taken  from  the  Bible.  The  over- 
mantels were  decorated  with  coats-of-arms  and  other  carv- 
ing, and  the  entablature  over  the  fireplace  often  had  Latin 
mottoes.  The  earliest  firebacks  date  from  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury. Coats-of-arms  and  many  curious  designs  were  used 
upon  them. 

The  furniture  of  the  Tudor  period  was  much  carved, 
and  was  made  chiefly  of  oak.  Cornices  of  beds  and  cabinets 
often  had  the  egg-and-dart  molding  used  on  them,  and  the 
S-curve  is  often  seen  opposed  on  the  backs  of  settees  and 
chairs.     It  has  a  suggestion  of  a  dolphin  and  is  reminiscent 


64*  FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

of  the  dolphins  of  the  Renaissance.  The  beds  were  very- 
large,  the  "  great  bed  of  Ware  "  being  twelve  feet  square. 
The  cornice,  the  bed-head,  the  pedestals  and  pillars  support- 
ing the  cornice  were  all  richly  carved.  Frequently  the  pil- 
lars at  the  foot  of  the  bed  were  not  connected  with  it,  but 
supported  the  cornice  which  was  longer  than  the  bed.  The 
"  Courtney  bedstead,"  dated  1593,  showing  many  of  the 
characteristics  of  the  ornament  of  the  time,  is  103 J  inches 
high,  94  inches  long,  68  inches  wide.  The  majority  of  the 
beds  were  smaller  and  lower,  however,  and  the  pillars  usually 
rose  out  of  drum-like  members,  huge  acorn-like  bulbs  thai) 
were  often  so  large  as  to  be  ugly.  They  appeared  also  on 
other  articles  of  furniture.  When  in  good  proportion,  with 
pillars  tapering  from  them,  they  were  very  effective,  and 
gradually  they  grew  smaller.  Some  of  the  beds  had  the 
four  apostles,  Matthew,  Mark,  Luke  and  John,  carved  on 
the  posts.  They  were  probably  the  origin  of  the  nursery 
rhyme : 

"  Four  corners  to  ray  bed, 
Four   angels   round   my  head, 
Matthew,  Mark,  Luke  and  John, 
Bless  the  bed  that  I  lie  on." 

Bed  hanging  were  of  silk,  velvet,  damask,  wool  damask, 
tapestry,  etc.,  and  there  were  fine  linen  sheets  and  blankets 
and  counterpanes  of  wool  work.     The  chairs  were  high- 


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Original    Jacobean    settle    with    tapestry    covering.      These    pieces    of 
furniture  range  in  price  between  $900  and  $1,400 


Fine  reproductions  of  Jacobean  chairs  of  the  time  of 
Charles  II.     The  carved  front  rail  balances  the  carv- 
ing on  the  back  perfectly 


ENGLISH  FURNITURE  65 

backed,  of  solid  oak  with  cushions.  There  were  also  jointed 
stools,  folding  screens,  chests,  cabinets,  tables  with  carpets 
(table  covers),  tapestry  hangings,  curtains,  cushions,  silver 
sconces,  etc. 

The  Jacobean  period  began  with  James  I,  and  lasted 
until  the  time  of  William  and  Mary,  or  from  1603  to  about 
1689.  In  the  early  part  there  was  still  a  strong  Tudor  feel- 
ing, and  toward  the  end  foreign  influence  made  itself  felt 
until  the  Dutch  under  William  became  paramount.  Inigo 
Jones  did  his  great  work  at  this  time  in  the  Palladian  style 
of  architecture.  His  simpler  taste  did  much  to  reduce  the 
exaggeration  of  the  late  Tudor  days. 

Chests  of  various  kinds  still  remained  of  importance. 
Their  growth  is  interesting:  first  the  plain  ones  of  very  early 
days,  then  panels  appeared,  then  the  pointed  arch  with  its 
architectural  effect,  then  the  low-pointed  arch  of  Tudor 
and  early  Jacobean  times,  and  the  geometrical  ornament. 
Then  came  a  change  in  the  general  shape,  a  drawer  being 
added  at  the  bottom,  and  at  last  it  turned  into  a  complete 
chest  of  drawers. 

Cabinets  or  cupboards  were  also  used  a  great  deal,  and 
the  most  interesting  are  the  court-  and  livery-cupboards. 
The  derivation  of  the  names  is  a  bit  obscure,  but  the  court 
cupboard  probably  comes  from  the  French  court,  short. 
The  first  ones  were  liigh  and  unwieldy  and  the  later  ones 
were  lower  with  some  enclosed  shelves.     They  were  used  for 


66         FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

a  display  of  plate,  much  as  the  modern  sideboard  is  used. 
The  number  of  shelves  was  limited  by  rank;  the  wife  of  a 
baronet  could  have  two,  a  countess  three,  a  princess  four,  a 
queen  five.  They  were  beautifully  carved,  very  often,  the 
doors  to  the  enclosed  portions  having  heads,  Tudor  roses, 
arches,  spindle  ornaments  and  many  other  designs  common 
to  the  Tudor  and  Jacobean  periods.  They  had  a  silk 
"  carpet "  put  on  the  shelves  with  the  fringe  hanging  over 
the  ends,  but  not  the  front,  and  on  this  was  placed  the  silver. 

The  livery-cupboard  was  used  for  food,  and  the  word 
probably  comes  from  the  French  livrer,  to  deliver.  It  had 
several  shelves  enclosed  by  rails,  not  panels,  so  the  air  could 
circulate,  and  some  of  them  had  open  shelves  and  a  drawer 
for  hnen.  They  were  used  much  as  we  use  a  serving-table, 
or  as  the  kitchen  dresser  ivas  used  in  old  New  England  days. 
In  them  were  kept  food  and  drink  for  people  to  take  to  their 
bedrooms  to  keep  starvation  at  bay  until  breakfast. 

Drawing-tables  were  very  popular  during  Jacobean  times. 
They  were  described  as  having  two  ends  that  were  drawn  out 
and  supported  by  sliders,  while  the  center,  previously  held 
by  them,  fell  into  place  by  its  own  weight.  Another  char- 
acteristic table  was  the  gate-legged  or  thousand-legged  table, 
that  was  used  so  much  in  our  own  Colonial  times.  There 
were  also  round,  oval  and  square  tables  which  had  flaps  sup- 
ported by  legs  that  were  drawn  out.  Tables  were  almost 
invariably  covered  with  a  table  cloth. 


ENGLISH  FURNITURE  67 

Some  of  the  chairs  of  the  time  of  James  I  were  much 
Hke  those  of  Louis  XIII,  having  the  short  back  covered  with 
leather,  damask,  or  tapestry,  put  on  with  brass  or  silver  nails 
and  fringe  around  the  edge  of  the  seat.  The  chief  char- 
acteristic of  the  chairs  of  this  time  was  solidity,  with  the 
ornament  chiefly  on  the  upper  parts,  which  were  molded 
oftener  than  carved,  with  the  backs  usually  high.  A  plain 
leather  chair  called  the  "  Cromwell  chair,"  was  imported 
from  Holland.  The  solid  oak  back  gave  way  at  last  to 
the  half  solid  back,  then  came  the  open  back  with  rails,  and 
then  the  Charles  II  chair,  with  its  carved  or  turned  uprights, 
its  high  back  of  cane,  and  an  ornamental  stretcher  like  the  top 
of  the  chair  back,  between  the  front  legs.  This  is  a  very 
attractive  feature,  as  it  serves  to  give  balance  of  decoration 
and  also  partly  hides  the  plain  stretcher  from  sight.  A 
typical  detail  of  Charles  II  furniture  is  the  crown  supported 
by  cherubs  or  opposed  S-curves.  James  II  used  a  crovm 
and  palm  leaves. 

Grinling  Gibbons  did  his  wonderful  work  in  carving  at 
this  time,  using  chiefly  pear  and  lime  wood.  The  greater 
part  of  his  work  was  wall  decoration,  but  he  made  tables, 
mirrors  and  other  furniture  as  well.  The  carving  was  often 
in  lighter  wood  than  the  background,  and  was  in  such  high 
rehef  that  portions  of  it  had  often  to  be  "  pinned  "  together, 
for  it  seemed  almost  in  the  round.  Evelyn  discovered  Gib- 
bons in  a  little  shop  working  away  at  such  a  wonderful  piece 


68         FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

of  carving  that  he  could  not  rest  until  he  had  taken  him  to 
Sir  Christopher  Wrenn.  From  this  introduction  came  the 
great  amount  of  work  they  did  together.  The  influence  of 
his  work  was  still  seen  in  the  early  eighteenth  century. 

The  room  at  Knole  House  that  was  furnished  for  James  I 
is  of  great  interest,  as  it  is  the  same  to-day  as  when  first  fur- 
nished. The  bed  is  said  to  have  cost  £8,000.  As  it  is  one 
of  the  show  places  of  England  one  should  not  miss  a  chance 
of  seeing  it. 

Until  the  time  of  the  Restoration  the  furniture  of  England 
could  not  compare  in  sumptuousness  with  that  of  the  Con- 
tinental countries.  England,  besides  having  a  simpler  point 
of  view,  was  in  a  perpetual  state  of  unrest.  The  honest  and 
hard-working  English  joiners  and  carpenters  adapted  in  a 
plain  and  often  clumsy  way  the  styles  of  the  different  for- 
eigners who  came  to  the  country.  Through  it  all,  however, 
they  kept  the  touch  of  national  character  that  makes  the 
furniture  so  interesting,  and  they  often  did  work  of  great 
beauty  and  worth.  When  Charles  II  came  to  the  throne 
he  brought  with  him  the  ideas  of  France,  where  he  had  spent 
so  many  years,  and  the  change  became  very  marked.  The 
natural  Stuart  extravagance  also  helped  to  form  his  taste, 
and  soon  we  hear  of  much  more  elaborate  decoration  through- 
out the  land. 

Many  of  the  country  towns  were  far  behind  London  in 
the  style  of  furniture,  and  this  explains  why  some  furniture 


ENGLISH  FURNITURE  69 

that  is  dated  1670,  for  instance,  seems  to  belong  to  an  earlier 
time.  The  famous  silver  furniture  of  Knole  House,  Seven- 
oaks,  belongs  to  this  time.  Evelyn  mentions  in  his  diary  that 
the  rooms  of  the  Duchess  of  Portsmouth  were  full  of  "  Japan 
cabinets  and  screens,  pendule  clocks,  greate  vases  of  wrought 
plate,  tables,  stands,  chimney  furniture,  sconces,  branches, 
baseras,  etc.,  all  of  massive  silver,"  and  later  he  mentions 
again  her  "  massy  pieces  of  plate,  whole  tables  and  stands  of 
incredible  value." 

In  the  reign  of  William  and  Mary,  Dutch  influence  was 
naturally  very  pronounced,  as  William  disliked  everything 
EngHsh.  The  English,  being  now  well  grounded  in  the 
knowledge  of  construction,  took  the  Dutch  ideas  as  a  foun- 
dation and  developed  them  along  their  own  Hnes,  until  we 
have  the  late  Queen  Anne  type  made  by  Chippendale. 

The  change  in  the  style  of  chairs  was  most  marked  and 
noticeable.  They  were  more  open  backed  than  in  Charles's 
time  and  had  two  uprights  and  a  spoon-  or  fiddle-shaped 
splat  to  support  the  sitter's  back.  The  chair  backs  took 
more  the  curve  of  the  human  figure,  and  the  seats  were 
broader  in  front  than  in  the  back;  the  cabriole  legs  were 
broad  at  the  top  and  ended  in  claw  or  pad  feet,  and  there 
were  no  ^straining-rails.  The  shell  was  a  common  form  of 
ornament,  and  9 11  crowns  and  cherubs  had  disappeared.  In- 
lay and  marqii  try  came  to  be  generously  used,  but  there 
had  been  many  cabinets  of  Dutch  marquetry  brought  to 


70         FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

England  even  before  the  time  of  William  and  Mary. 
Flower  designs  in  dyed  woods,  shell,  mother-of-pearl,  and 
ivory  were  used. 

The  marquetry  clocks  made  at  this  time  are  wonderful 
and  characteristic  examples  of  the  work,  and  are  among  the 
finest  clocks  ever  made  for  beauty  of  line  and  finish,  and 
proportion. 

Although  marquetry  and  inlay  have  much  in  common 
there  is  one  great  difference  between  them,  and  they  should 
not  be  used  as  synonymous  terms.  In  marquetry  the  entire 
surface  of  the  article  is  covered  with  pieces  of  different 
colored  woods  cut  very  thin  and  glued  on.  It  is  like  a  mod- 
ern picture  puzzle  done  with  regard  to  the  design.  In  inlay, 
the  design  only  is  inlaid  in  the  wood,  leaving  a  much  larger 
plain  background.  Veneering  is  a  thin  layer  of  beautiful 
and  often  rare  wood  glued  to  a  foundation  of  some  cheaper 
kind.  The  tall  clocks  and  cabinets  of  William  and  Mary's 
time  and  the  wonderful  work  of  Boulle  in  France  are  ex- 
amples of  marquetry,  the  fine  furniture  of  Hepplewhite  and 
Sheraton  are  masterly  examples  of  inlay. 


Queen  Anne 


^tf^^ 


>»Vs 


4  Bi 


Examples  of  fine   reproductions.     The   lacquer  chairs 
carry  out  the  true  feeling  of  the  old  with  great  skill 


A  reproduction  of  a  walnut  chair  with  cane 

seat    and    back,    of    the    William    and    Mary 

period 


Queen  Anne 

/  /  X-^  UEEN  ANNE  "  furniture  is  a  very  elastic 

IB  term,  for  it  is  often  used  to  cover  the  reigns  of 

^^  William  and  Mary,  Queen  Anne,  George  I, 

and  a  part  of  the  reign  of  George  II,  or,  in  other  words, 

-all  the  time  of  Dutch  influence.     The  more  usual  method  is 

to  leave  out  William  and  Mary,  but  at  best  the  classification 

of  furniture  is  more  or  less  arbitrary,  for  in  England,  as  well 

as  other  countries,  the  different  styles  overlap  each  other. 

Chippendale's  early  work  was  distinctly  influenced  by  the 

Dutch. 

Walnut  superseded  oak  in  popularity,  and  after  1720  ma- 
hogany gradually  became  the  favorite.  There  was  a  good 
deal  of  walnut  veneering  done,  and  the  best  logs  were  saved 
for  the  purpose.  Marquetry  died  out  and  gave  place  to  carv- 
ing, and  the  cabriole  leg,  one  of  the  chief  marks  of  Dutch  in- 
fluence, became  a  firmly  fixed  style.  The  carving  was  put  on 
the  knees  and  the  legs  ended  in  claw  and  ball  and  pad  feet. 
Some  chairs  were  simply  carved  with  a  shell  or  leaf  or  scroll 
on  top  rail  and  knees  of  the  legs.  In  the  more  elaborately 
carved  chairs  the  arms,  legs,  splat,  and  top  rail  were  all  carved 
with  acanthus  leaves,  or  designs  from  Gibbons's  decoration. 
Chairs  were  broad  in  the  seat  and  high  of  back  with  wide 

73 


74         FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

splats,  often  decorated  with  inlay,  in  the  early  part  of  the  pe- 
riod. The  top  rail  curved  into  the  side  uprights,  and  the  seat 
was  set  into  a  rebate  or  box-seat.  The  ehair  backs  slowly 
changed  in  shape,  becoming  broader  and  lower,  the  splat 
ceased  to  be  inlaid  and  was  pierced  and  carved,  and  the  whole 
chair  assumed  the  shape  made  so  familiar  to  us  by  Chip- 
pendale. 

Tables  usually  had  cabriole  legs,  although  there  were  some 
gate-  or  thousand-legged,  tables,  and  card  tables,  writing- 
tables,  and  flap-tables,  were  all  used.  It  was  in  the  Queen 
Anne  period  that  highboys  and  lowboys  made  their  first  ap- 
pearance. 

In  the  short  reign  of  Anne  it  also  became  the  fashion  to 
have  great  displays  of  Chinese  porcelain,  and  over-mantels, 
cupboards,  shelves  and  tables  were  covered  with  wonderful 
pieces  of  it.  Addison,  in  Sir  Roger  de  Coverley,  humorously 
describes  a  lady's  library  of  the  time. 

"...  And  as  it  was  some  time  before  the  lady  came 
to  me  I  had  an  opportunity  of  turning  over  a  great  many 
of  her  books,  which  were  ranged  in  a  very  beautiful  order. 
At  the  end  of  the  folios  (which  were  finely  bound  and  gilt)' 
were  great  jars  of  china  placed  one  above  another  in  a  very 
noble  piece  of  architecture.  The  quartos  were  separated 
from  the  octavos  by  a  pile  of  smaller  vessels,  which  rose  in  a 
delightful  pyramid.  The  octavos  were  bounded  by  tea- 
dishes  of  all  shapes,  colors,  and  sizes,  which  were  so  disposed 
on  a  wooden  frame  that  they  looked  like  one  continued  pillar 


QUEEN  ANNE  75 

indented  with  the  finest  strokes  of  sculpture  and  stained  with 
the  greatest  variety  of  dyes.  Part  of  the  library  was  en- 
closed in  a  kind  of  square,  consisting  of  one  of  the  prettiest 
grotesque  works  that  ever  I  saw,  and  made  up  of  scara- 
mouches, lions,  monkeys,  mandarins,  trees,  shells,  and  a  thou- 
sand other  odd  figures  in  china  ware.  In  the  midst  of  the 
room  was  a  little  Japan  table." 

Between  1710  and  1730  lacquer  ware  became  very  fashion- 
able, and  many  experiments  were  made  to  imitate  the  beau- 
tiful Oriental  articles  brought  home  by  Dutch  traders.  In 
Holland  a  fair  amount  of  success  was  attained  and  a  good 
deal  of  lacquered  furniture  was  sent  from  there  to  England 
where  the  brass  and  silver  mounts  were  added.  English  and 
French  were  experimenting,  the  French  with  the  greatest 
success  in  their  Vernis  JNIartin,  mentioned  elsewhere,  which 
really  stood  quite  in  a  class  by  itself,  but  the  imitations  of 
Chinese  and  Japanese  lacquer  were  inferior  to  the  originals. 
Pine,  oak,  lime,  and  many  other  woods,  were  used  as  a  base, 
and  the  fashion  was  so  decided  that  nearly  all  kinds  of  furni- 
ture were  covered  with  it.  This  lacquer  ware  of  William 
and  Mary's  and  Queen  Anne's  time  must  not  be  confounded 
with  the  Japanned  furniture  of  Hepplewhite's  and  Shera- 
ton's time,  which  was  quite  different  and  of  much  lower 
grade. 

It  was  in  the  reign  of  Queen  Anne  that  the  sun  began  to 
rise  on  English  cabinet  work ;  it  shone  gloriously  through  the 
eighteenth  century,  and  sank  in  early  Victorian  clouds. 


Chippendale  and  the  Eighteenth  Century 
in  England 


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An  elaborately  carved  and  gilded   Chippendale  mantel  mirror,  showing  French 

influence 


One   of   the    most   beautiful   examples    of    Chippendale's    fretwork    tea-tables    in 

existence 


Chippendale  and  the  Eighteenth  Century 

in  England 

THE  classification  of  furniture  in  England  is  on  a 
different  basis  from  that  of  France,  as  the  rulers 
of  England  were  not  such  patrons  of  art  as  were 
the  French  kings.  Flemish,  Dutch  and  French  influences 
all  helped  to  form  the  taste  of  the  people.  The  Jacobean 
period  lasted  from  the  time  of  James  I  to  the  time  of  Wil- 
liam and  Mary.  William  brought  with  him  from  Holland 
the  strong  Dutch  feeling  that  had  a  tremendous  influence 
on  the  history  of  English  furniture,  and  during  Anne's  short 
reign  the  Dutch  feeling  still  lasted. 

It  was  not  until  the  early  years  of  the  reign  of  George  II 
that  the  Georgian  period  came  into  its  own  with  Chippen- 
dale at  its  head.  Some  authorities  include  William  and 
Mary  and  Queen  Anne  in  the  Georgian  period,  but  the  more 
usual  idea  is  to  divide  it  into  several  parts,  better  known  as 
the  times  of  Chippendale,  Adam,  Hepplewhite  and  Sheraton. 
French  influence  is  marked  throughout  and  is  divided  into 
parts.  The  period  of  Chippendale  was  contemporaneous 
with  that  of  Louis  XV,  and  the  second  part  included  the 
other  three  men  and  corresponded  with  the  last  years  of 

79 


80         FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

Louis  XV,  when  the  transition  to  Louis  XVI  was  begin- 
ning, and  the  time  of  Louis  XVI. 

It  was  not  until  the  latter  part  of  Chippendale's  life  that 
he  gave  up  his  love  of  rococo  curves  and  scrolls,  dripping 
water  effects,  and  his  Chinese  and  Gothic  styles.  His  early 
chairs  had  a  Dutch  feeling,  and  it  is  often  only  by  ornamen- 
tation that  one  can  date  them. 

The  top  of  the  Dutch  chair  had  a  flowing  curve,  the  splat 
was  first  solid  and  plain,  then  carved,  and  later  pierced  in 
geometrical  designs ;  then  came  the  curves  that  were  used  so 
much  by  Chippendale.  The  carving  consisted  of  swags  and 
pendants  of  fruit  and  flowers,  shells,  acanthus  leaves,  scrolls, 
eagle's  heads,  carved  in  relief  on  the  surface. 

Dutch  chairs  were  usually  of  walnut  and  some  of  the  late 
ones  were  of  mahogany.  Mahogany  was  not  used  to  any 
extent  before  1720,  but  at  that  time  it  began  to  be  imported 
in  large  quantities,  and  its  lightness  and  the  ease  with  which 
it  could  be  worked  made  it  appropriate  for  the  lighter  style 
of  furniture  then  coming  into  vogue. 

Chippendale  began  to  make  chairs  with  the  curved  top 
that  is  so  characteristic  of  his  work.  The  splat  back  was 
always  used,  in  spite  of  the  French,  and  its  treatment  is  one 
of  the  most  interesting  things  in  the  history  of  English  fur- 
niture. It  gave  scope  for  great  originality.  Although,  as 
I  have  said  before,  foreign  influence  was  strong,  the  ideas 
were  adapted  and  worked  out  by  the  great  cabinet-makers 


i 


CHIPPENDALE  AND  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY         81 

of  the  Georgian  period  with  a  vigor  and  beauty  that  made  a 
distinct  English  style,  and  often  went  far,  far  ahead  of  the 
originals. 

There  were,  so  far  as  we  know,  three  Thomas  Chippen- 
dales: the  second  was  the  great  one.  He  Avas  born  in  Wor- 
cester, England,  about  1710,  and  died  in  1779.  He  and  his 
father,  who  was  also  a  carver,  came  to  London  before  1727. 
Very  little  is  known  about  his  life,  but  we  may  feel  sure  he 
was  that  rare  combination:  a  man  of  genius  with  decided 
business  ability.  He  not  only  designed  the  furniture  which 
was  made  in  his  shop,  but  executed  a  large  part  of  it  also,  and 
superintended  all  the  work  done  there  by  others.  That  he 
was  a  man  of  originality  shows  distinctly  through  his  work, 
for  although  he  adapted  and  copied  freely  and  was  strongly 
influenced  by  the  Dutch,  French,  and  "  Chinese  taste,"  there 
is  always  his  own  distinctive  touch.  The  furniture  of  his 
best  period,  and  those  belonging  to  his  school,  has  great 
beauty  of  line  and  proportion,  and  the  exquisite  carving 
shows  a  true  feeling  for  ornament  in  relation  to  plain  sur- 
faces. There  are  a  few  examples  in  existence  of  carving 
in  almost  as  high  relief  as  that  of  Grinling  Gibbons,  swags, 
etc.,  and  in  his  most  rococo  period  his  carving  was  very  elabo- 
rate. It  always  had  great  clearness  of  edge  and  cut,  and  a 
wonderful  feeling  for  light  and  shade.  In  what  is  called 
"  Irish  Chippendale,"  which  was  furniture  made  in  Ireland 
after  the  style  of  Chippendale,  the  carving  was  in  low  relief 


8a  FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

and  the  edges  fairly  smoothed  off,  which  made  it  much  less 
interesting. 

Chippendale  looked  upon  his  work  as  one  of  the  arts  and 
placed  his  ideal  of  achievement  very  high,  and  that  he  re- 
ceived the  recognition  of  the  best  people  of  the  time  as  an 
artist  of  merit  is  proved  by  his  election  to  the  Society  of 
Arts  with  such  men  as  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds,  Horace  Wal- 
pole,  Samuel  Johnson,  David  Garrick,  and  others. 

Tke  genius  of  Chippendale  justly  puts  him  in  the  front 
rank  of  cabinet-makers  and  his  influence  was  the  foundation 
of  much  of  the  fine  work  done  by  many  others  during  the 
eighteenth  century.  He  is  often  criticized  for  his  excessive 
rococo  taste  as  displayed  in  the  plates  of  the  "  Gentleman's 
and  Cabinet-maker's  Director,"  and  in  some  of  his  finished 
work.  Many  of  the  designs  in  the  "  Director  "  were  prob- 
ably never  carried  out,  and  some  of  them  were  probably 
added  to  by  the  soaring  imaginations  of  the  engraver.  This 
is  true  of  all  the  books  published  by  the  great  cabinet-makers, 
and  it  always  seems  more  fair  to  have  their  reputations  rest 
on  their  finished  work  which  has  come  down  to  us. 

Chippendale,  of  course,  must  bear  the  chief  part  of  the 
charge  of  over-elaboration,  and  he  frankly  says  that  he  thinks 
"  much  enrichment  is  necessary."  He  copied  Meissonier's 
designs  and  had  a  great  love  for  gilding,  but  the  display  of 
rococo  taste  is  not  in  all  his  work  by  any  means,  nor  was  it  so 
excessive  as  that  of  the  French.     The  more  self -restrained 


The   dripping-water   effect,    of   which    Chippendale   was   so   fond   at   one    time,   is 
plainly  shown  on  the  doors  of  this  particularly  fine  example  of  his  work 


A  chair  from  early  in  the  18th 
century  of  the   Dutch   type 


One    of    the    Chippendale    pat- 
terns, datinar  from  about  1750 


Hepplewhite's    characteristic 
shield-shaped    back 


J'homas  Sheraton's  rectangular 
type   of  chair-back 


CHIPPENDALE  AND  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY         83 

temperament  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  makes  a  deal  of 
diiFerence.  He  early  used  the  ogee  curve  and  cabriole  leg, 
the  knees  of  wliich  he  carved  with  cartouches  and  leaves  or 
other  designs.  The  front  rail  of  the  chair  also  was  often 
carved.  There  were  several  styles  of  curved  leg,  the  cabriole 
leg  of  Dutch  influence,  and  the  curved  style  of  Louis  XV. 
There  were  also  several  variations  on  the  claw  and  ball  foot. 
Many  Chippendale  chairs  were  without  stretchers,  but  the 
straight  legged  style  usually  had  four.  The  seats  were  some- 
times in  a  box  frame  or  rebate,  and  sometimes  the  covering 
was  drawn  over  the  frame  and  fastened  with  brass  headed 
nails.  Chippendale  in  the  "  Director  "  speaks  of  red  morocco, 
Spanish  leather,  damask,  tapestry  and  other  needlework  as 
being  appropriate  for  the  covering  of  his  chairs. 

In  about  1760  or  1765  he  began  to  use  the  straight  leg  for 
his  chairs.  The  different  shapes  of  splats  will  often  help 
in  deciding  the  dates  of  their  making,  and  its  development 
is  of  great  interest.  The  curves  shown  in  the  diagram  on 
page  84  are  the  merest  suggestions  of  the  outline  of  the 
splat,  and  they  were  carved  most  beautifully  in  many  differ- 
ent designs.  Ribbon-back  chairs  are  dated  about  1755  and 
show  the  adapted  French  influence.  His  Gothic  and  Chinese 
designs  were  made  about  1760-1770.  Ladder-back  chairs 
nearly  always  had  straight  legs,  either  plain  or  with  double 
ogee  curve  and  bead  moldings,  but  there  are  a  few  examples 
of  ladder-back  and  cabriole  legs  combined,  although  these 


84, 


FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 


are  very  rare.  The  chair  settees  of  the  Dutch  time,  with 
backs  having  the  appearance  of  chairs  side  by  side,  were 
also  made  by  Chippendale.  *'  Love  seats "  were  small 
settees.  It  was  naively  said  that  "  they  were  too  large  for 
one  and  too  small  for  two."  A  large  armchair  that  shows 
a  decided  difference  in  the  manners  of  the  early  eighteenth 


1740-1750        1750-1760         1755-1770 


h 

1750-1760       1755-1/^5 


1760-1770 


1760-1770 


^ 


1750-1770 


1770 


1760-1770 

DIFFERENT  TYPES  OF  CHAIR  SPLATS  USED   BY,     CHIPPENDALE 


century  and  the  present  day  was  called  the  "  drunkard's 
chair." 

When  the  craze  for  "  Indian  work  "  was  at  its  height, 
there  were  many  pieces  of  old  oak  and  walnut  furniture  cov- 
ered with  lacquer  to  bring  it  up  to  the  fashionable  standard, 
but  their  forms  were  not  suitable,  and  oak  especially,  with  its 


CHIPrENDALE  AND  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY         85 

coarse  grain  did  not  lend  itself  to  the  process.  The  stands 
for  lacquer  cabinets  vary  in  style,  but  were  often  gilded  in 
late  Louis  XIV  and  Louis  XV  style.  The  difference  be- 
tween true  lacquer  and  its  imitations  is  hard  to  explain.  The 
true  was  made  by  repeated  coats  of  a  special  varnish,  each 
rubbed  down  and  allowed  to  become  hard  before  the  next  w^as 
put  on.  This  gave  a  hard,  cool,  smooth  surface  with  no 
stickiness.  Modern  work,  done  with  paint  and  French  var- 
nish, has  not  this  delightful  feeling,  but  is  nearly  always 
clammy  to  the  touch,  and  the  colors  are  hurt  by  the  process 
of  polishing.  Chippendale  did  not  use  much  lacquer,  but  in 
the  "  Director  "  he  often  says  such  and  such  designs  would 
be  suitable  for  it. 

Much  of  the  furniture  that  Chippendale  made  was  heavy, 
but  the  best  of  it  had  much  beauty.  His  delicate  fretwork 
tea-tables  are  a  delight,  with  their  fretwork  cupboards  and 
carving.  He  seemed  to  combine  many  sides  in  his  artistic 
temperament,  a  fact  that  many  people  lay  to  his  power  of 
assimilating  the  work  of  others.  He  did  not  make  side- 
boards in  our  sense  of  the  word.  His  were  large  side-tables, 
sometimes  with  a  drawer  for  silver  and  sometimes  not.  Pier- 
tables  were  very  much  like  them  in  shape,  but  smaller,  and 
were  often  gilded  to  match  the  mirrors  which  were  placed 
above  them. 

The  larger  pieces  of  Chippendale  furniture  have  the  same 
characteristic  of  perfect  workmanship  and  detail  which  the 


86  FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

chairs  possess.  Dining-tables  were  made  in  sections  consist- 
ing of  two  semi-circular  ends  and  two  center  pieces  with 
flaps  which  could  all  be  joined  together  and  make  a  very 
large  table.  The  beds  he  made  had  four  posts  and  cornice 
tops  elaborately  carved  and  often  gilded,  with  a  strong  Louis 
XV  feeling.  The  curtains  hung  from  the  inside  of  the  cor- 
nice. He  also  made  many  other  styles  of  beds,  such  as  can- 
opy beds,  tent  beds,  flat  tester  beds,  Chinese  beds,  Gothic 
beds :  there  was  almost  nothing  he  did  not  make  for  the  house 
from  wall  brackets  to  the  largest  wardrobes. 

To  many  people  used  to  the  simple  Chippendale  furniture 
which  is  commonly  seen,  the  idea  of  rich  and  beautiful  carving 
and  gilding  comes  as  a  surprise,  and  even  in  the  "  Director  " 
there  are  no  plates  which  show  his  most  beautiful  work.  His 
elaborate  furniture  was  naturally  chiefly  order  work,  and  so 
was  not  pictured,  and  much  of  it  that  is  left  is  still  in  the 
possession  of  the  descendants  of  the  original  owners.  The 
small  number  of  authentic  pieces  which  have  reached  public 
sales  have  been  eagerly  snapped  up  by  private  collectors  and 
museums  at  large  prices. 

In  America  much  of  the  furniture  called  Chippendale  was 
not  made  by  Chippendale  himself,  but  was  made  after  his 
designs  and  copied  from  imported  pieces  by  clever  cabinet- 
makers here  in  the,  then,  colonies.  The  average  American 
of  the  eighteenth  century  was  a  simple  and  not  over  rich  per- 
son of  good  breeding  and  refined  taste  who  appreciated  the 


It  is  interesting  to  compare  the  generous  curves  of  the  Chippen- 
dale  sofa  with  the  greater  severity  of  Hepplewhite's  taste 


A   valuable   collection    of   an    Adam   mirror,    a    block-front,    knee-hole    chest    of 
drawers,    and    a    Hepplewhite    chair 


CHIPPENDALE  AND  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY        87 

fact  that  the  elaborate  furniture  of  England  and  France 
would  not  be  in  keeping  with  life  in  America,  and  so  either 
imported  the  simpler  kinds,  or  demanded  that  the  home  cabi- 
net-maker choose  good  models  for  his  work.  This  partly 
explains  why  we  have  so  much  really  good  Colonial  furniture, 
and  not  so  much  of  the  elaborately  carved  and  gilded  va- 
riety. 


1 


Robert  Adam 


Robert  Adam 

ROBERT  ADAM  was  the  second  of  the  four  sons 
of  William  Adam,  and  was  born  in  1728.  The 
Adam  family  was  Scotch  of  good  social  position. 
Robert  early  showed  a  talent  for  drawing.  He  was  ambi- 
tious, and,  as  old  Roman  architecture  interested  him  above 
all  other  subjects,  he  decided  that  he  could  attain  his  ideals 
only  by  study  and  travel  in  Italy.  He  returned  to  Eng- 
land in  1758  after  four  years  of  hard  work  with  the  results 
of  his  labors,  the  chief  treasure  being  his  careful  drawings  of 
Diocletian's  villa.  His  classical  taste  was  firmly  established, 
and  was  to  be  one  of  the  important  influences  of  the  eight- 
eenth century. 

Robert  and  James  Adam  went  into  partnership  and  be- 
came the  most  noted  architects  of  their  day  in  England.  The 
list  of  their  buildings  is  long  and  interesting,  and  much  of 
their  architectural  and  decorative  work  is  still  in  existence. 

To  many  people  it  will  seem  like  putting  the  cart  before 
the  horse  to  say  that  Robert  Adam  had  in  any  way  influ- 
enced the  style  we  call  Louis  XVI,  but  it  is  a  plausible  theory 
and  certainly  an  interesting  one.  Mr.  G.  Owen  Wheeler  in 
his  interesting  book  on  "  Old  English  Furniture  "  makes  a 
strong  case  in  favor  of  the  Adam  Brothers.     Classical  taste 

91 


9a  FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

was  well  established  in  England  by  1765,  before  the  transition 
from  Louis  XV  to  Louis  XVI  began,  and  Robert  Adam 
published  his  book  in  parallel  columns  of  French  and  Eng- 
lish, which  shows  it  must  have  been  in  some  demand  in 
France.  The  great  indfluence  of  the  excavations  at  Pompeii 
must  naturally  not  be  underestimated,  as  it  was  far  reaching, 
but  with  the  beautiful  Adam  style  well  developed,  just  across 
the  Channel,  it  seems  probable  that  it  may  have  had  its  share 
in  forming  French  taste.  The  foundation  being  there,  the 
French  put  their  characteristic  touch  to  it  and  developed  a 
much  richer  style  than  that  of  the  Adam  Brothers,  but  the 
two  have  so  much  in  common  that  Louis  XVI  furniture  may 
be  put  into  an  Adam  room  with  perfect  fitness,  and  vice 
versa.  As  the  Adams  cared  only  to  design  furniture  some 
one  else  had  to  carry  out  the  designs,  and  Chippendale  was 
master  carver  and  cabinet-maker  under  them  at  Harewood 
House,  Yorkshire,  and  probably  was  also  in  many  other  in- 
stances. 

The  early  furniture  of  Adam  was  plain,  and  the  walls  were 
treated  with  much  decoration  that  was  classic  in  feeling. 
He  possessed  the  secret  of  a  composition  of  which  his  ex- 
quisite decorations  on  walls  and  ceilings  were  made.  After 
1770  he  simplified  his  walls  and  elaborated  his  furniture  de- 
signs until  they  met  in  a  beautiful  and  graceful  harmony. 
He  designed  furniture  to  suit  the  room  it  was  in,  and  with 
the  dainty  and  charming  coloring,  the  beauty  of  proportion 


A  mantel  of  marble   and  steel   in   the   drawing-room,   Rushton   Hall, 
Northamptonshire — the  work  of  tlie  brothers  Adam 


Another  Adam  mantel.      It  is  interesting  lo  note   how   cleariy  these 
mantels  are  the  inspiration  of  our  own  Colonial  work 


^,iiti_-';w*t<<<<sn:«*r-j^-i: »~  ^Shj^'n^ 


The   delicacy   of  the   painting  and   the   graceful   proportions   of   these   reproduc- 
tions are  in  the   true  spirit  of  Adam 


ROBERT  ADAM  93 

and  the  charm  of  the  wall  decoration,  the  scheme  had  great 
beauty. 

He  used  the  ram's  head,  wreaths,  honeysuckle,  mythologi- 
cal subjects,  lozenge-shaped,  oval  and  octagonal  panels,  and 
many  other  designs.  He  was  one  of  the  first  to  use  the 
French  idea  of  decorating  furniture  with  painting  and  por- 
celain plaques,  and  the  furniture  itself  was  simple  and  beau- 
tiful in  line.  The  stucco  ceilings  designed  by  the  brothers 
were  picked  out  with  delicate  colors  and  have  much  beauty  of 
line. 

A  great  deal  of  the  most  beautiful  Adam  decoration  was 
the  painting  on  walls  and  ceilings  and  furniture  by  Angelica 
Kaufmann,  Zucchi,  Pergolesi,  Cipriani,  and  Columbani. 
The  standard  of  work  was  so  high  that  only  the  best  was  sat- 
isfactory. 

Adam  usually  designed  his  furniture  for  the  room  in  which 
it  was  to  stand,  and  he  often  planned  the  house  and  all  its 
contents,  even  to  the  table  silver,  to  say  nothing  of  the  door- 
locks.  The  chairs  were  of  mahogany,  or  painted,  or  gilded, 
wood.  Some  had  oval  upholstered  backs,  with  the  covering 
specially  designed  for  the  room,  and  some  had  lyre  backs, 
later  used  so  much  by  Sheraton,  and  others  had  small  painted 
panels  placed  in  the  top  rail,  with  beautiful  carving.  Mir- 
rors were  among  the  most  charming  articles  designed  by 
Adam,  and  had  composition  wreaths  and  cupids  and  medal- 
lions for  ornament.     They  were  usually  made  in  pairs  in 


94.         FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

both  large  and  small  sizes.  A  pair  of  antique  mirrors  should 
be  kept  together,  as  they  are  very  much  more  valuable  than 
when  separated. 

Adam  was  one  of  the  first  to  assemble  the  pieces  that  later 
grew  into  the  sideboard  ^ —  a  table,  two  pedestals,  and  a  cel- 
laret. There  is  a  sideboard  designed  by  him  for  Gillows,  in 
which  the  parts  are  connected,  and  it  is  at  least  one  of  the 
ancestors  of  the  beautiful  Shearer  and  Hepplewhite  ones  and 
our  modern  useful,  though  not  always  beautiful,  article. 
When,  late  in  his  career,  Adam  attempted  to  copy  the 
French,  he  was  not  so  successful,  as  he  did  not  have  their 
flexibility  of  temperament,  and  was  unable  to  give  the 
warmer  touch  to  the  classic,  which  they  did  so  well.  His 
paneled  walls,  however,  have  great  dignity  and  purity  of 
line  and  feeling,  and  the  applied  ornament  was  really  an 
ornament,  and  not  a  disfigurement  as  too  often  happens  in 
our  day.  With  Adam  one  feels  the  surety  of  knowledge 
and  the  refinement  of  good  taste  led  by  a  high  ideal. 


Hepplewhite 


I 

I 


A  hue  old  HepplevvlHic  »(lcboard,  with  old  glass  and  ..ihcr,  but  the  nuuk-rn  wall- 
paper   is    not    in    iiarmonj' 


A  modern   Hepplewhite   settee,  showing  the  draped   scarf  carving  he  used 

so  much 


Hepplewhite 

THE  work  of  Hepplewhite  and  his  school  lasted  from 
about  1760  to  1795 ;  the  last  nine  years  of  the  time  the 
business  was  carried  on  by  his  widow,  Alice,  under  the 
name  of  A.  Hepplewhite  &  Co.  For  five  years  after  that 
some  work  was  done  after  his  manner,  but  it  was  distinctly 
inferior.  In  the  early  seventies  Hepplewhite's  work  was  so 
well  known  and  so  much  admired  that  its  influence  was  shown 
in  the  work  of  his  contemporaries.  There  was  a  great  difl'er- 
ence  between  his  style  and  that  of  Chippendale,  his  being 
much  lighter  in  construction  and  efl*ect,  besides  the  many 
differences  of  design.  Hepplewhite  was  strongly  influenced 
by  the  French  style  of  Louis  XVI,  and  also  the  pure  taste 
of  Robert  Adam  at  its  height.  Hepplewhite,  however,  like 
all  the  great  cabinet-makers,  both  French  and  Eng- 
lish, was  a  great  genius  himself  and  stamped  the  impress  of 
his  own  personality  upon  his  work. 

Many  people  date  Hepplewhite's  fame  from  the  time  of 
the  publication  of  his  book,  "  The  Cabinet  Maker  and  Up- 
holsterer's Guide,"  in  1788,  not  realizing  that  he  had  been 
dead  for  two  years  when  it  appeared.  Its  publication  was 
justified  by  the  well  established  popularity  of  his  furniture 
and  the  success  with  which  his  designs  were  carried  out  by 
A.  Hepplewhite  &  Co. 

97 


98  FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

It  is  interesting  to  notice  the  difference  in  the  size  of  chairs 
which  became  apparent  during  Hepplewhite's  time.  Hoop- 
skirts  and  stiffened  coats  went  out  of  fashion,  and  with  them 
went  the  need  of  large  chair  seats.  The  transition  chairs 
made  by  Hepplewhite  were  not  very  attractive  in  proportion, 
as  the  backs  were  too  low  for  the  width.  The  transition  from 
Chippendale  to  Hepplewhite  was  not  sudden,  as  the  last 
style  of  Chippendale  was  simpler  and  had  more  of  the  classic 
feeling  in  it.  Hepplewhite  says,  in  the  preface  to  his  book : 
"  To  unite  elegance  and  utility,  and  blend  the  useful  with  the 
agreeable,  has  ever  been  considered  a  difficult,  but  an  honor- 
able task."  He  sometimes  failed  and  sometimes  succeeded. 
His  knowledge  of  construction  enabled  him  to  make  his  chairs 
with  shield,  oval,  and  heart-shaped  backs.  The  tops  were 
slightly  curved,  also  the  tops  of  the  splats,  and  at  the  lower 
edge  where  the  back  and  the  splat  join,  a  half  rosette  was 
carved.  He  often  used  the  three  feathers  of  the  Prince  of 
Wales,  sheaves  of  wheat,  anthemion,  urns,  and  festoons  of 
drapery,  all  beautifully  carved,  and  forming  the  splat.  The 
backs  of  his  chairs  were  supported  at  the  sides  by  uprights 
running  into  the  shield-shaped  back  and  did  not  touch  the  seat 
frame  in  any  other  way.  With  this  apparent  weakness  of 
construction  it  is  wonderful  how  many  of  his  chairs  have  come 
down  to  us  in  perfect  condition,  but  it  was  his  knowledge  of 
combining  lightness  with  strength  which  made  it  possible. 

Hepplewhite  used  straight  or  tapering  legs  with  spade  feet 


HEPPLEWHITE  99 

for  his  furniture,  often  inlaid  with  bellflowers  in  satinwood. 
The  legs  were  sometimes  carved  with  a  double  ogee  curve  and 
bead  molding.  He  did  not  use  carving  in  the  lavish  manner 
of  Chippendale,  but  it  was  always  beautifully  done,  and  he 
used  a  great  deal  of  inlay  of  satinwood,  etc.,  oval  panels, 
lines,  urns,  and  many  other  motives  common  to  the  other 
cabinet-makers  of  the  day,  and  also  painted  some  of  his  furni- 
ture. His  Japan  work  was  inferior  in  every  way  to  that  of 
the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth  century.  The  upholstery 
was  fastened  to  the  chairs  with  brass-headed  tacks,  often  in 
a  festoon  pattern.  Oval-shaped  brass  handles  were  used  on 
his  bureaus,  desks,  and  other  furniture.  He  made  many  side- 
boards, some,  in  fact,  going  back  to  the  side  table  and  pedestal 
idea,  and  bottle-cases  and  knife-boxes  were  put  on  the  ends 
of  the  sideboards.  His  regular  sideboards  were  founded  on 
Shearer's  design. 

Shearer's  furniture  was  simple  and  dainty  in  design,  and 
he  has  the  honor  of  making  the  first  real  serpentine  side- 
board, about  1780,  which  was  not  a  more  or  less  disconnected 
collection  of  tables  and  pedestals.  It  was  the  forerunner  of 
the  Hepplewhite  and  Sheraton  sideboards  that  we  know  so 
well.  Shearer  is  now  hardly  known  even  by  name  to  the 
general  world,  but  without  doubt  his  ideal  of  lightness  and 
strength  in  construction  had  a  good  deal  of  influence  on  his 

contemporaries  and  followers. 

Hepplewhite  was  very  fond  of  oval  and  semi-circular 


100        FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

shapes,  and  many  of  his  tables  are  made  in  either  one  way 
or  the  other.  His  sideboards,  founded  on  Shearer's  designs, 
are  very  elegant,  as  he  liked  to  say,  in  their  simplicity  of  line, 
their  inlay,  and  their  general  beauty  of  wood.  He 
was  most  successful  in  his  chairs,  sideboards,  tables,  and  small 
household  articles,  for  his  larger  pieces  of  furniture  were 
often  too  heavy.  Some  of  the  worst,  however,  were  made 
by  other  cabinet-makers  after  his  designs,  and  not  by  Hep- 
plewhite  himself. 


Sheraton 


Sheraton 

THOMAS  SHERATON  was  born  in  1750,  and  was 
a  journeyman  cabinet-maker  when  he  went  to  Lon- 
don. His  great  genius  for  furniture  design  was 
combined  with  a  love  of  writing  tracts  and  sermons.  Unfor- 
tunately for  his  success  in  life,  he  had  a  most  disagreeable 
personality,  being  conceited,  jealous,  and  perfectly  willing  to 
pour  scorn  on  his  brother  cabinet-makers.  This  impression 
he  quite  frankly  gives  about  himself  in  his  books.  The  name 
of  Robert  Adam  is  not  mentioned,  and  this  seems  particu- 
larly unpleasant  when  one  thinks  of  the  latter's  undoubted 
influence  on  Sheraton's  work.  Sheraton's  unfortunate  dis- 
position probably  helped  to  make  his  life  a  failure. 

It  is  very  sad  to  see  such  possibilities  as  his  not  reaping 
their  true  reward,  for  poverty  dogged  his  steps  all  through 
life,  and  he  was  always  struggling  for  a  bare  livelihood.  His 
books  were  not  financially  successful,  and  at  last  he  gave  up 
his  workshop  and  ceased  to  make  the  furniture  he  designed, 
He  was  an  expert  draughtsman  and  his  designs  were  carried 
out  by  the  skillful  cabinet-makers  of  the  day.  Adam  Black 
gives  a  very  pitiful  account  of  the  poverty  in  which  Sheraton 
lived,  and  says:  "  That  by  attempting  to  do  everything  he 
does  nothing."     His  "  nothing,"  however,  has  proved  a  very 

103 


io4j     furnishing  the  home  of  good  taste 

big  something  in  the  years  which  have  followed,  for  Sheraton 
is  responsible  for  one  of  the  most  beautiful  types  of  furniture 
the  world  has  known,  and  although  his  life  was  hard  and  bit- 
ter, his  fame  is  great. 

Sheraton  took  the  style  of  Louis  XVI  as  his  standard,  and 
some  of  his  best  work  is  quite  equal  to  that  of  the  French 
workmen.  He  felt  the  lack  of  the  exquisite  brass  and  ormolu 
work  done  in  France,  and  said  if  it  were  only  possible  to  get 
as  fine  in  England,  the  superior  cabinet-making  of  the  Eng- 
lish would  put  them  far  ahead  in  the  ranks.  To  many  of 
us  this  loss  is  not  so  great,  for  the  beauty  of  the  wood  counts 
for  more,  and  is  not  detracted  from  by  an  oversupply 
of  metal  ornament,  as  sometimes  happened  in  France. 
*'  Enough  is  as  good  as  a  feast."  Sheraton,  at  his  best,  had 
beauty,  grace,  and  refinement  of  line  without  weakness,  light- 
ness and  yet  perfect  construction,  combined  with  balance, 
and  the  ornament  just  sufficient  to  enhance  the  beauty  of 
the  article  without  overpowering  it.  It  is  this  fine  work 
which  the  world  remembers  and  which  gave  him  his  fame,  and 
so  it  is  far  better  to  forget  his  later  period  when  nearly  all 
trace  of  his  former  greatness  was  lost. 

Sheraton  profited  by  the  work  of  Chippendale,  Adam,  and 
Hepplewhite,  for  these  great  men  blazed  the  trail  for  him,  so 
to  speak,  in  raising  the  art  of  cabinet-making  to  so  high  a 
plane  that  England  was  full  of  skilled  workmen.  The  in- 
fluence of  Adam,  Shearer,  and  Hepplewhite,  was  very  great 


SHERATON  105 

on  liis  work,  and  it  is  often  difficult  to  tell  whether  he  or  Hep- 
plewhite  or  Shearer  made  some  pieces.  He  evidently  did 
not  have  business  ability  and  his  bitter  nature  hampered  him 
at  every  turn.  The  Sheraton  school  lasted  from  about  1790 
to  1806.  He  died  in  1806,  fairly  worn  out  with  his  struggle 
for  existence.     Poor  Sheraton,  it  certainly  is  a  pitiful  story. 

Sheraton's  chair  backs  are  rectangular  in  type,  with  urn 
splats,  and  splats  divided  into  seven  radiates,  and  also  many 
other  designs.  The  chairs  were  made  of  mahogany  and  satin- 
wood,  some  carved,  some  inlaid,  and  some  painted.  The 
splat  never  ran  into  the  seat,  but  was  supported  on  a  cross 
rail  running  from  side  to  side  a  few  inches  above  the  seat. 
The  material  used  for  upholstery  was  nailed  over  the  frame 
with  brass-headed  tacks. 

Bookcases  were  of  mahogany  and  satinwood  veneer,  and 
the  large  ones  were  often  in  three  sections,  the  center  section 
standing  farther  out  than  the  two  sides.  The  glass  was  cov- 
ered with  a  graceful  design  in  moldings,  and  the  pediments 
were  of  various  shapes,  the  swan-neck  being  a  favorite. 

Sideboards  were  built  on  very  much  the  hues  of  those  made 
by  Shearer  and  Hepplewhite.  There  were  drawers  and  cup- 
boards for  various  uses.  The  knife-boxes  to  put  on  the  top 
came  in  sets  of  two,  and  sometimes  there  was  a  third  box. 
The  legs  were  light  and  tapering  with  inlay  of  satinwood, 
and  sometimes  they  were  reeded.  There  was  inlay  also  on 
the  doors  and  drawers.     There  were  also  sideboards  without 


106       FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

inlay.  The  legs  for  his  furniture  were  at  first  plain,  and 
then  tapering  and  reeded.  He  used  some  carving,  and  a 
great  deal  of  satinwood  j^nd  tulip- wood  were  inlaid  in  the 
mahogany;  he  also  used  rosewood.  The  beUflower,  urn, 
festoons,  and  acanthus  were  all  favorites  of  his  for  deco- 
ration. 

He  made  some  elaborate  and  startling  designs  for  beds, 
but  the  best  known  ones  are  charming  with  slender  turned 
posts  or  reeded  posts,  and  often  the  plain  ones  were  made  of 
painted  satinwood. 

The  satinwood  from  the  East  Indies  was  fine  and  of  a 
beautiful  yellow  color,  while  that  from  the  West  Indies  was 
coarser  in  grain  and  darker  in  color.  It  is  a  slow  growing 
tree,  and  that  used  nowadays  cannot  compare  with  the  old, 
in  spite  of  the  gallant  efforts  of  the  hard  working  fakirs  to 
copy  its  beautiful  golden  tone. 

All  the  cabinet-makers  of  the  eighteenth  century  made  in- 
genious contrivances  in  the  way  of  furniture,  washstands  con- 
cealed in  what  appear  to  be  corner  cupboards,  a  table  that 
looks  as  simple  as  a  table  possibly  can,  but  has  a  small  step- 
ladder  and  book  rest  hidden  away  in  its  useful  inside,  and 
many  others.  Sheraton  was  especially  clever  in  making 
these  conveniences,  as  these  two  examples  show,  and  his 
books  have  many  others  pictured  in  them.  Sheraton's  list 
of  articles  of  furniture  is  long,  for  he  made  almost  every- 
thing from  knife-boxes  to  "  chamber-horses,"  which  were 


SHERATON  107 

contrivances  of  a  saddle  and  springs  for  people  to  take  exer- 
cise upon  at  home. 

Sheraton's  "  Drawing  Book  "  was  the  best  of  those  he 
published.  It  was  sold  chiefly  to  other  cabinet-makers  and  did 
not  bring  in  many  orders,  as  Chippendale's  and  Hepple- 
white's  did.  His  other  books  showed  his  decline,  and  his 
*'  Encyclopedia,"  on  which  he  was  working  at  the  time  of  his 
death,  had  many  subjects  in  it  beside  furniture  and  cabinet- 
making.  His  sideboards,  card-tables,  sewing-tables,  tables 
of  every  kind,  chairs  —  in  fact,  everything  he  made  during 
his  best  period^ — have  a  sureness  and  beauty  of  line  that 
makes  it  doubly  sad  that  through  the  stress  of  circumstances 
he  should  have  deserted  it  for  the  style  of  the  Empire  that 
was  then  the  fashion  in  France.  One  or  two  of  his  Empire 
designs  have  beauty,  but  most  of  them  are  too  dreadful,  but 
it  was  the  beginning  of  the  end,  and  the  eighteenth  century 
saw  the  beautiful  principles  of  the  eighteenth  century  lost 
in  a  bog  of  ugliness. 

There  were  many  other  cabinet-makers  of  merit  that  space 
does  not  allow  me  to  mention,  but  the  great  four  who  stood 
head  and  shoulders  above  them  all  were  Chippendale,  Adam, 
Hepplewhite  and  Sheraton.  They,  being  human,  did  much 
work  that  is  best  forgotten,  but  the  heights  to  which  they  all 
rose  have  set  a  standard  for  English  furniture  in  beauty  and 
construction  that  it  would  be  well  to  keep  in  mind. 

The  nineteenth  century  passed  away  without  any  especial 


108       FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

genius,  and  in  fact,  with  a  very  black  mark  against  its  name 
in  the  hideous  early  Victorian  era.  The  twentieth  century 
is  moving  along  without  anything  we  can  really  call  a  beauti- 
ful and  worthy  style  being  born.  There  are  many  working  , 
their  way  towards  it,  but  there  is  apt  to  be  too  much  of  the 
bizarre  in  the  attempts  to  make  them  satisfactory,  and  so 
we  turn  to  the  past  for  our  models  and  are  thankful  for  the 
legacy  of  beauty  it  has  left  to  the  world. 


A    General  Talk 


A    General   Talk 

WHEN  one  faces  the  momentous  question  of 
furnishing  a  house,  there  are  numerous  things 
which  must  be  looked  into  and  thoroughly  un- 
derstood if  success  is  to  be  assured.  If  one  is  building  in  the 
country  the  first  question  is  the  placing  of  the  house  in  re- 
gard to  the  view,  but  in  town  there  is  not  much  choice.  The 
architect  being  chosen  with  due  regard  to  the  style  of  house 
one  wishes,  the  planning  can  go  merrily  on.  The  architect 
should  be  told  if  there  are  any  especially  large  and  beautiful 
pieces  of  furniture  or  tapestry  to  be  planned  for,  so  they 
shall  receive  their  rightful  setting.  After  all,  architects  are 
but  human,  and  cannot  tell  by  intuition  what  furniture  is  in 
storage. 

It  is  sad  to  see  how  often  architecture  and  decoration  are 
looked  upon  as  two  entirely  disconnected  subjects,  instead  of 
being  closely  allied,  playing  into  each  other's  hands,  as  it  were, 
to  make  a  perfect  whole.  To  many  people,  a  room  is  simply 
a  room  to  be  treated  as  they  wish ;  whereas  many  rooms  are 
absolute  laws  unto  themselves,  and  demand  a  certain  kind  of 
treatment,  or  disaster  follows.  In  America  this  kind  of 
house  is  not  found  so  often  as  in  Europe,  but  the  number 

is  growing  rapidly  as  architects  and  their  clients  realize  more 

111 


lU        FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

and  more  the  beauties  and  possibilities  of  the  great  periods 
as  applied  to  the  modern  house.  It  is  only  to  the  well- 
trained  architect  and  decorator  with  correct  taste  that  one 
may  safely  turn,  for  the  ill-trained  and  commonplace  still 
continue  to  make  their  astounding  errors,  and  so  to  have  the 
decoration  of  a  room  truly  successful  one  must  begin  with  the 
architect,  for  he  knows  the  correct  proportions  of  the  differ- 
ent styles  and  appreciates  their  importance.  He  will  plan 
the  rooms  so  that  they,  when  decorated,  may  complete  his 
work  and  form  a  beautiful  and  convincing  whole.  This  will 
give  the  restfulness  and  beauty  that  absolute  appropriateness 
always  lends. 

This  matter  of  appropriateness  must  not  be  overlooked, 
and  the  whole  house  should  express  the  spirit  of  the  owner ; 
it  should  be  in  absolute  keeping  with  his  circumstances. 
There  are  few  houses  which  naturally  demand  the  treatment 
of  palaces,  but  there  are  many  which  correspond  with  the 
smaller  chateaux  of  France  and  the  manor-houses  of  Eng- 
land. It  is  to  these  we  must  turn  for  our  inspiration,  for 
they  have  the  beauty  of  good  taste  and  high  standards  with- 
out the  lavishness  of  royalty;  but  even  royalty  did  not  al- 
ways live  in  rooms  of  state,  for  at  Versailles,  and  Petit  Tri- 
anon, there  is  much  simple  exquisite  furniture.  The  wonder- 
ful and  elaborate  furniture  of  the  past  must  be  studied  of 
course,  but  to  the  majority  of  people,  then  as  now,  the  sim- 
pler expression  of  its  fundamental  lines  of  beauty  are  more 


< 


The    sweep    of   the   stairs,    with    the   line   ironwork   and    rich    colored    tapestries, 

a    Gobelni    of    Apollo,    and    a    Flemish    tapestry    cf    the    Crucifixion,    make    an 

imposing:   hall.      An   old   Spanish    chair   is   en   the   landing,   and   the    clock    with 

Father  Time  upon  it  is  an  especially  fine  example  of  Bculle's  work 


A  GENERAL  TALK  113 

satisfactory.  The  trouble  with  many  houses  is  that  their  fur- 
nishings are  copied  from  too  grand  models,  and  the  effect  in 
an  average  modern  house  is  unsuitable  in  every  way.  They 
cannot  give  the  large  vistas  and  appropriate  background  in 
color  and  proportion  which  are  necessary.  Beauty  does  not 
depend  upon  magnificence. 

If  one  has  to  live  in  a  house  planned  and  built  by  others 
one  often  has  to  give  up  some  long  cherished  scheme  and 
adopt  something  else  more  suited  to  the  surroundings.  For 
instance,  the  rooms  of  the  great  French  periods  were  high, 
and  often  the  modern  house  has  verj^  low  ceilings,  that  would 
not  allow  space  for  the  cornice,  over-doors  and  correctly  pro- 
portioned paneling,  that  are  marked  features  of  those  times. 
Mrs.  Wharton  has  aptly  said:  "Proportion  is  the  good 
breeding  of  architecture,"  and  one  might  add  that  proportion 
is  good  breeding  itself.  One  little  slip  from  the  narrow  path 
into  false  proportion  in  line  or  color  or  mass  and  the  perfec- 
tion of  effect  is  gone. 

Proportion  is  another  word  for  the  fitness  of  things,  and 
that  little  phrase,  "  the  fitness  of  things,"  is  what  Alice  in 
Wonderland  calls  a  "  portmanteau  "  phrase,  for  it  holds  so 
much,  and  one  must  feel  it  strongly  to  escape  the  pitfalls  of 
period  furnishing.  Most  amazing  things  are  done  with  per- 
fect complacency,  but  although  the  French  and  English 
kings  who  gave  their  names  to  the  various  periods  w^ere  far 
from  models  of  virtue,  they  certainly  deserved  no  such  cruel 


114       FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

punishment  as  to  have  some  of  the  modern  rooms,  such  as 
we  have  all  seen,  called  after  them. 

The  best  decorators  refuse  to  mix  styles  in  one  room  and 
they  thus  save  people  from  many  mistakes,  but  a  decorator 
without  a  thorough  understanding  of  the  subject,  often  leads 
one  to  disaster.  A  case  in  point  is  an  apartment  where  a 
small  Louis  XV  room  opens  on  a  narrow  hall  of  nondescript 
modern  style,  with  a  wide  archwaj^  opening  into  a  Mission 
dining-room.  As  one  sits  in  the  midst  of  pink  brocade  and 
gilding  and  looks  across  to  the  dining-room,  fitted  out  in  all 
the  heavy  paraphernalia  of  Mission  furniture,  one's  head 
fairly  reels.  No  contrast  could  be  more  marked  or  more 
unsuitable,  and  yet  this  is  by  no  means  an  uncommon  case. 

If  one  intends  to  adopt  a  style  in  decorating  one's  house, 
there  should  be  a  uniformity  of  treatment  in  all  connecting 
rooms,  and  there  must  be  harmony  in  the  furniture  and 
architecture  and  ornament,  as  well  as  harmony  in  the  color 
scheme.  The  foundation  must  be  right  before  the  decora- 
tion is  added.  The  proportion  of  doors  and  windows,  for 
instance,  is  very  important,  with  the  decorated  over-door 
reaching  to  the  ceiling.  The  over-doors  and  mantels  were 
architectural  features  of  the  rooms,  and  it  was  not  until  wall- 
papers came  into  common  use,  in  the  early  part  of  the  nine- 
teenth century,  that  these  decorative  features  slowly  died  out. 

The  mantel  and  fireplace  should  be  a  center  of  interest  and 
should  be  balanced  with  something  of  importance  on  the  other 


A  GENERAL  TALK  115 

side  of  the  room,  either  architectural  or  decorative.  It  was 
this  regard  for  symmetry,  balance,  proportion,  and  harmony, 
which  made  the  old  rooms  so  satisfying;  there  was  no  magic 
about  it,  it  was  artistic  common  sense. 

The  use  for  which  a  room  is  intended  must  be  kept  in  view 
and  carried  out  with  real  understanding  of  its  needs.  The 
individuality  of  the  owner  is  of  course  a  factor.  Unfortu- 
nately the  word  individuality  is  often  confounded  with  eccen- 
tricity and  to  many  people  it  means  putting  perfectly  worthy 
and  unassuming  articles  to  starthng  uses.  By  individuality 
one  should  really  mean  the  best  expression  of  one's  sense  of 
beauty  and  the  fitness  of  things,  and  when  it  is  guided  by  the 
laws  of  harmony  and  proportion  the  result  is  usually  one  of 
great  charm,  convenience,  and  comfort.  These  qualities 
must  be  in  every  successful  house. 

In  furnishing  any  house,  whether  in  some  special  period  or 
not,  there  are  certain  things  which  must  be  taken  into  account. 
One  of  these  is  the  general  color  scheme.  Arranging  a  color 
scheme  for  a  house  is  not  such  a  difficult  matter  as  many 
people  suppose,  nor  is  it  the  simple  thing  that  many  others 
seem  to  think.  There  is  a  happy  land  between  the  two  ex- 
tremes, and  the  guide  posts  pointing  to  it  are  a  good  color 
sense,  a  true  feeling  for  the  proportion  and  harmony  of  color, 
and  an  understanding  of  the  laws  of  light.  The  trouble  is 
that  people  often  do  not  use  their  eyes;  red  is  red  to  them, 
blue  is  blue,  and  green  is  green.     They  have  never  appeared 


116       FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

to  notice  that  there  are  dozens  of  tones  in  these  colors.  Na- 
ture is  one  of  the  greatest  teachers  of  color  harmony  if  we 
would  but  learn  from  her.  Look  at  a  salt  marsh  on  an 
autumn  day  and  notice  the  wonderful  browns  and  yellows 
and  golds  in  it,  the  reds  and  russets  and  touches  of  green  in 
the  woods  on  its  edge,  and  the  clear  blue  sky  over  all  with 
the  reflections  in  the  little  pools.  It  is  a  picture  of  such 
splendor  of  color  that  one  fairly  gasps.  Then  look  at  the 
same  marsh  under  gray  skies  and  see  the  change;  there  is 
just  as  much  beauty  as  before,  the  same  russets  and  golds 
and  reds,  but  exquisitely  softened.  One  is  sparkling,  gay,  a 
harmony  of  brilliancy;  the  other  is  more  gentle,  sweet  and 
appealing,  a  harmony  of  softened  glory. 

Again,  Nature  makes  a  thousand  and  one  shades  of  green 
leaves  to  harmonize  with  her  flowers ;  the  yellow  green  of  the 
golden  rod,  the  silver  green  of  the  milkweed,  the  bright 
green  of  the  nasturtium.  Notice  the  woods  in  wintertime 
with  the  wonderful  purple  browns  and  grays  of  the  tree 
trunks  and  branches,  the  bronze  and  russet  of  the  dead  leaves, 
and  the  deep  shadows  in  the  snow.  Everywhere  one  turns 
there  are  lessons  to  learn  if  one  will  only  use  seeing  eyes  and 
a  thinking  mind. 

A  house  should  be  looked  at  as  a  whole,  not  as  so  many 
units  to  be  treated  in  a  care-free  manner.  A  room  is  afl'ected 
by  all  the  rooms  opening  from  it,  as  they,  in  turn,  are  af- 
fected by  it.     There  can  be  variety  of  color  with  harmony  of 


A  GENERAL  TALK  117 

contrast,  or  there  can  be  the  same  color  used  throughout, 
with  the  variety  gained  by  the  use  of  its  different  tones. 
The  plan  of  each  floor  should  be  carefully  studied  to  get  the 
vistas  in  all  directions  so  that  harmony  may  reign  and  there 
will  be  no  danger  of  a  clashing  color  discord  when  a  door 
is  opened.  The  connecting  rooms  need  not  be  all  in  one 
color,  of  course,  but  they  should  form  a  perfect  color  har- 
mony one  with  another,  with  deft  touches  of  contrast  to  ac- 
cent and  bring  out  the  beauty  of  the  whole  scheme:  This 
matter  of  harmony  in  contrast  is  an  important  one.  The 
idea  of  using  a  predominant  color  is  a  restful  one,  and  adds 
dignity  and  apparent  size  to  a  house.  The  walls,  for  in- 
stance, could  be  paneled  in  white  enameled  wood,  or  plaster, 
and  the  necessary  color  and  variety  could  be  supplied  by  the 
rugs,  hangings,  furniture,  and  pictures. 

Another  charming  plan  is  to  have  different  tones  of  one 
color  used  —  a  scheme  running  from  cream  or  old  ivory 
through  soft  yellow  and  tan  to  a  russet  brown  would  be 
lovely,  especially  if  the  house  did  not  have  an  over  supply  of 
light.  Greens  may  be  used  with  discretion,  and  a  cool  and 
attractive  scheme  is  from  white  to  soft  blue  through  gray. 
If  different  colors  are  to  be  used  in  the  different  rooms  the 
number  of  combinations  is  almost  unlimited,  but  there  must 
always  be  the  restraining  influence  of  a  good  color  sense  in 
forming  the  scheme  or  the  result  will  be  disappointing,  to 
say  the  least. 


118        FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

A  very  important  matter  in  the  use  of  color  is  in  its  rela- 
tion to  the  amount  and  quality  of  the  light.     Dreary  rooms 
can  be  made  cheerful,  and  too  bright  and  dazzling  rooms 
can  be  softened  in  effect,  by  the  skillful  use  of  color.     The 
warm  colors,^ — cream  white,  yellows  —  but  not  lemon  yel- 
low —  orange,  warm  tans,  russet,  pinks,  yellow  greens,  yel- 
lowish reds  are  to  be  used  on  the  north  or  shady  side  of  the 
house.     The  cool  colors, —  white,  cream  white,  blues,  grays, 
greens,  and  violet,  are  for  the  sunny  side.     Endless  combi- 
nations may  be  made  of  these  colors,  and  if  a  gray  room,  for 
example,  is  wished  on  the  north  side  of  the  house,  it  can  be 
used  by  first  choosing  a  warm  tone  of  gray  and  combining 
with  it  one  of  the  warm  colors,  such  as  certain  shades  of  soft 
pink  or  yellow.     We  can  stand  more  brilliancy  of  color  out- 
of-doors  than  we  can  in  the  house,  where  it  is  shut  in  with  us. 
It  is  too  exciting  and  we  become  restless  and  nervous.     No 
matter  on  what  scale  a  house  is  furnished  one  of  its  aims 
should  be  to  be  restful. 

There  is  one  great  mistake  which  many  people  make  of 
thinking  of  red  as  a  cheerful  color,  and  one  which  is  good 
to  use  in  a  dark  room.  The  average  red  used  in  large  quan- 
tities absorbs  the  light  in  a  most  disheartening  manner,  mak- 
ing a  room  seem  smaller  than  it  really  is;  it  makes  ugly 
gloomy  shadows  in  the  corners,  for  at  night  it  seems  to  turn 
to  a  dingy  black,  and  increases  the  electric  Mght  bill.  Red  is 
also  a  severe  strain  on  the  eyes,  and  many  a  red  living-room 


A  GENERAL  TALK  119 

is  the  cause  of  seemingly  unaccountable  headaches.  I  do  not 
mean  to  say  that  red  should  never  be  used,  for  it  is  often  a  very 
necessary  color,  but  it  must  be  used  with  the  greatest  discre- 
tion, and  one  must  remember  that  a  little  of  it  goes  a  long 
way.  A  room,  for  instance,  paneled  with  oak,  with  an  ori- 
ental rug  with  soft  red  in  it,  red  hangings,  and  a  touch  of  red 
in  an  old  stained  glass  jDanel  in  the  window,  and  red  velvet 
cushions  on  the  window  seat,  would  have  much  more  warmth 
and  charm  than  if  the  walls  were  covered  entirely  with  red. 
One  red  cushion  is  often  enough  to  give  the  required  note. 
The  effect  of  color  is  very  strong  upon  people,  although  a 
great  many  do  not  realize  it,  but  nearh^  everyone  will  remem- 
ber a  sudden  and  apparently  unexplained  change  of  mood  in 
going  into  some  room.  One  can  learn  a  deal  by  analyzing 
one's  own  sensations.  Figured  wall-papers  should  also  be 
chosen  with  the  greatest  care  for  this  same  reason.  Papers 
which  have  perpetual  motion  in  their  design,  or  eyes  which 
seem  to  peer,  or  an  unstable  pattern  of  gold  running  over  it, 
must  all  be  ignored.  People  who  choose  this  kind  of  paper 
are  blest,  or  cursed,  w^hichever  way  one  looks  at  it,  by  an 
utter  lack  of  imagination. 

A  room  is  divided  into  three  parts,  the  floor,  the  walls,  and 
the  ceiling,  and  the  color  of  the  room  naturally  follows  the 
law  of  nature;  the  heaviest  or  darkest  at  the  bottom,  or 
floor ;  the  medium  tone  in  the  center,  or  walls ;  and  the  light- 
est at  the  top,  or  ceiling.     It  is  only  when  one  has  to  artifi- 


120        FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

cially  correct  the  architectural  proportions  of  a  room  that 
the  ceiHng  should  be  as  dark,  or  darker,  than  the  walls.  A 
ceiling  can  also  be  seemingly  lowered  by  bringing  the  ceihng 
color  down  on  the  side  walls.  A  low  room  should  never 
have  a  dark  ceiling,  as  it  makes  the  room  seem  lower. 

Walls  should  be  treated  as  a  background  or  as  a  decora- 
tion in  themselves.  In  the  latter  case  any  pictures  should 
be  set  in  specially  arranged  panels  and  should  be  pictures 
•of  importance,  or  fresco  painting.  The  walls  of  the  great 
periods  were  of  this  decorative  order.  They  were  treated 
architecturally  and  the  feeling  of  absolute  support  which 
they  gave  was  most  satisfactory.  The  pilasters  ran  from 
base  or  dado  to  the  cornice  and  the  over-doors  made  the  doors 
a  dignified  part  of  the  scheme,  rather  than  mere  useful  holes 
in  the  wall  as  they  too  often  are  nowadays. 

Paneling  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  methods  of  wall  deco- 
ration. There  are  many  styles  of  paneling,  stone,  marble, 
stucco,  plaster,  and  wood,  and  each  period  has  its  own 
distinctive  way  of  using  them,  and  should  be  the  correct  type 
for  the  style  chosen.  The  paneling  of  a  Tudor  room  is  quite 
different  from  a  Louis  XVI  room.  In  the  course  of  a  long 
period  like  that  of  Louis  XV  the  paneling  slowly  changed 
its  character  and  the  rococo  style  was  followed  by  the  more 
dignified  one  that  later  became  the  style  of  Louis  XVI. 

Tapestry  and  paintings  of  importance  should  have  panels 
especially  planned  for  them.     If  one  does  not  wish  to  have 


A  GENERAL  TALK  121 

the  paneling  cover  the  entire  wall,  a  wainscot  or  dado  with 
the  wall  above  it  covered  with  tapestry,  silk,  painting,  or 
paper,  will  make  a  beautiful  and  appropriate  room  for  many 
of  the  different  styles  of  furniture.  A  wainscot  should  not 
be  too  high;  about  thirty-six  inches  is  a  good  height,  but 
should  form  a  background  for  the  chairs,  sofas,  and  tables, 
placed  around  the  room. 

A  wainscot  six  or  more  feet  high  is  not  as  architecturally 
correct  as  a  lower  one,  because  a  wall  is,  in  a  way,  like  an 
order  in  its  divisions,  and  if  the  base,  or  wainscot,  is  too  high 
it  does  not  allow  the  wall,  which  corresponds  to  the  column, 
to  have  its  fair  proportion.  This  feeling  is  very  strong  in 
many  apartment  houses  where  small  rooms  are  overburdened 
by  this  kind  of  wainscot,  and  to  make  matters  worse,  the 
top  is  used  as  a  plate-rail.  A  high  wainscot  should  be  used 
only  in  a  large  room,  and  if  there  are  pilasters  arranged  to 
connect  it  with  the  cornice,  and  the  wall  covering  is  put  on 
in  panel  effect  between,  the  result  is  much  better  than  if  the 
wall  were  left  plain,  as  it  seems  to  give  more  of  a  raison 
d'etre. 

Tapestry  is  another  of  the  beautiful  and  important  wall 
coverings,  and  the  happy  possessor  of  Flemish  or  Gobelin, 
or  Beauvais,  tapestries,  is  indeed  to  be  envied.  A  rare  old 
tapestry  should  be  paneled  or  hung  so  it  will  serve  as  a  back- 
ground. Used  as  portieres,  tapestry  does  not  show  the 
full  beauty  of  its  wonderful  time-worn  colors  and  its  fasci- 


l^a        FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

nation  of  texture.     It  is  not  everyone,  however,  who  is  able 
to  own  these  almost  priceless  treasures  of  the  past,  and  so 
modern  machinery  has  been  called  to  the  aid  of  those  who 
wish  to  cover  their  walls  and  furniture  with  tapestry.     Many 
of  these  modern  manufactures  are  really  beautiful,  thick  in 
texture,  soft  in  color,  and  often  have  the  little  imperfections 
and  unevennesses  of  hand  weaving  reproduced,  so  that  we 
feel  the  charm  of  the  old  in  the  new.     Many  do  not  realize 
that  in  New  York  there  are  looms  making  wonderful  hand- 
woven  tapestries  with  the  true  decorative  feeling  of  the  best 
days  of  the  past.     On  the  top  floor  of  a  large  modern  build- 
ing stand  the  looms  of  various  sizes,  the  dyeing  tubs,  the  drip- 
ping skeins  of  wool  and  silk,  the  spindles  and  bobbins,  and 
the  weavers  hard  at  work  carrying  out  the  beautiful  designs 
of  the   artist   owner.     There   are    few   colors   used,    as   in 
mediaeval  days,  but  wonderful  eff'ects  are  produced  by  a 
method  of  winding  the  threads  together  which  gives  a  vi- 
brating quality  to  the  color.     When  the  warp  in  some  of  the 
coarser  fabrics  is  not  entirely  covered  it  is  sometimes  dyed, 
which  gives  an  indescribable  charm.     Tapestries  of  all  sizes 
have  been  made  on  these  looms,  from  the  important  decora- 
tion of  a  great  hall,  to  sofa  and  chair  coverings.     Special 
rugs  are  also  made.     It  is  a  pleasure  to  think  that  an  art 
which  many  considered  dead  is  being  practiced  with  the  high- 
est artistic  aim  and  knowledge  and  skill  in  the  midst  of  our 
modern  rush.     This  hand-woven  tapestry  is  made  to  fit  spe- 


A  GENERAL  TALK  123 

cial  spaces  and  rooms,  and  there  is  nothing  more  beautiful 
and  suitable  for  rooms  of  importance  to  be  found  in  all  the 
long  list  of  possibilities. 

The  effect  of  modern  tapestry,  like  the  old,  is  enhanced  if 
the  walls  are  planned  to  receive  it,  for  it  was  never  intended 
to  be  used  as  wall-paper.  It  is  sometimes  used  as  a  free 
hanging  frieze,  so  to  speak,  and  sometimes  a  great  piece  of 
it  is  hung  flat  against  the  wall,  but  as  a  general  thing  to 
panel  it  is  the  better  way. 

Another  beautiful  wall  covering  is  leather.  It  should  be 
used  much  more  than  it  is,  and  is  especially  well  adapted  for 
halls,  libraries,  dining-rooms,  smoking-  and  billiard-rooms, 
and  dens.  Its  wonderful  possibihties  for  rooms  which  are 
to  be  furnished  in  a  dignified  and  beautiful  manner  are  un- 
surpassed. It  may  be  used  in  connection  with  panehng  or 
cover  the  wall  above  a  wainscot. 

Fresco  painting  is  another  of  the  noble  army  of  wall  treat- 
ments which  lends  itself  beautifully  to  all  kinds  and  styles 
of  rooms. 

Amidst  all  the  grandeur  of  tapestry  and  painting  one 
must  not  lose  sight  of  the  simpler  methods,  for  they  are  not 
to  be  distained.  Wall-papers  are  growing  more  and  more 
beautiful  in  color,  design,  and  texture,  and  one  can  find 
among  them  papers  suited  to  all  needs.  Fabrics  of  all  kinds 
have  become  possibilities  since  their  dust-collecting  capacity 
is  now  no  longer  a  source  of  terror,  as  vacuum  cleaners 


124        FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

are  one  of  the  commonplaces  of  existence.  Painting  or  tint- 
ing the  walls,  when  done  correctly,  is  very  satisfactory  in 
many  rooms. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  in  many  houses  are  wonderful  col- 
lections of  furniture,  tapestries  and  treasures  of  many  kinds, 
that  are  placed  without  regard  to  the  absolute  harmony  of 
period,  although  the  general  feeling  of  French  or  Italian  or 
English  is  kept.  They  are  usually  great  houses  where  the 
sense  of  space  keeps  one  from  feeling  discrepancies  that 
would  be  too  marked  in  a  smaller  one,  and  the  interest  and 
beauty  of  the  rare  originals  against  the  old  tapestries  have 
an  atmosphere  all  their  own  that  no  modern  reproduction 
can  have.  There  are  few  of  us,  however,  who  can  live  in  this 
semi-museum  kind  of  house,  and  so  one  would  better  stick 
to  the  highway  of  good  usage,  or  there  is  danger  of  making 
the  house  look  like  an  antique  shop. 

To  carry  out  a  style  perfectly,  all  the  small  details  should 
be  attended  to  * —  the  door-locks,  the  framework  of  the  doors 
and  windows,  the  carving.  All  these  must  be  taken  into  ac- 
count if  one  wishes  success.  It  is  better  not  to  attempt  a 
style  throughout  if  it  is  to  be  a  makeshift  affair  and  show 
the  effects  of  inadequate  knowledge.  The  elaborate  side  of 
any  style  carried  out  to  the  last  detail  is  really  only  possible 
and  also  only  appropriate  for  those  who  have  houses  to  cor- 
respond, but  one  can  choose  the  simpler  side  and  have  beau- 
tiful and  charming  rooms  that  are  perfectly  suited  to  the 


A  GENERAL  TALK  125 

average  home.  For  instance,  if  one  does  not  wish  elaborate 
gilded  Louis  XVI  furniture,  upholstered  in  brocade,  one  can 
choose  beautiful  cane  furniture  of  the  time  and  have  it  either 
in  the  natural  French  walnut  or  enameled  a  soft  gray  or 
white  to  match  the  woodwork,  with  cushion  of  cretonne  or 
silk  in  an  appropriate  design.  Period  furnishing  does  not 
necessarily  mean  a  greater  outlay  than  the  nondescript  and 
miscellaneous  method  so  often  seen. 

Whatever  the  plan  for  furnishing  a  house  may  be,  the  bal- 
ance of  decoration  must  be  kept;  the  same  general  feeling 
throughout  all  connecting  parts.  If  a  drawing-room  is  too 
fine  for  the  hall  through  which  one  has  to  pass  to  reach  it, 
the  balance  is  upset.  If  too  simple  chairs  are  used  in  a 
grand  dining-room  the  balance  is  upset,  the  fitness  of  things 
is  not  observed.  When  the  happy  medium  is  struck  through- 
out the  house  one  feels  the  delightful  well-bred  charm  which 
a  regard  for  the  unities  always  gives.  It  is  not  only  in  the 
quality  of  the  decorations  that  this  feeling  of  balance  must 
be  kept,  but  in  the  style  also.  If  one  chooses  a  period  style 
for  the  drawing-room  it  is  better  to  keep  to  it  through  the 
house,  using  it  in  its  different  expressions  according  to  the 
needs  of  the  different  rooms.  If  one  style  throughout  should 
seem  a  bit  monotonous  at  least  one  nationality  should  be 
kept,  such  as  French,  or  English.  If  several  styles  of  French 
furniture  are  used  do  not  have  them  in  the  same  room;  for 
instance,  Louis  XV  and  Empire  have  absolutely  nothing  in 


126        FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

common,  but  very  late  Louis  XVI  and  early  Empire  have  to 
a  certain  extent.  It  does  not  give  the  average  person  a  se- 
vere shock  to  walk  from  a  Louis  XVI  hall  into  a  Louis  XV 
drawing-room,  but  the  two  mixed  in  one  room  do  not  give  a 
pleasing  effect.  The  oak  furniture  of  Jacobean  days  does  not 
harmonize  with  the  delicate  mahogany  furniture  of  the  eight- 
eenth century  in  England.  The  delicate  beauty  of  Adam 
furniture  would  be  lost  in  the  greatness  of  a  Renaissance 
salon.  A  lady  whose  dining-room  was  furnished  in  Shera- 
ton furniture  one  day  saw  two  elaborate  rococo  Louis  XV 
console  tables  which  she  instantly  bought  to  add  to  it.  The 
shopman  luckily  had  more  sense  of  the  fitness  of  things  than 
a  mere  desire  to  sell  his  wares,  and  was  so  appalled  when  he 
saw  the  room  that  he  absolutely  refused  to  have  them  placed 
in  it.  She  saw  the  point,  and  learned  a  valuable  lesson. 
One  could  go  on  indefinitely,  giving  examples  to  warn 
people  against  startling  and  inappropriate  mixtures  which 
put  the  whole  scheme  out  of  key. 

I  am  taking  it  for  granted  that  reproductions  are  to  be 
chosen,  as  originals  are  not  only  very  rare,  but  also  almost 
prohibitive  in  price.  Good  reproductions  are  carefully  made 
and  finished  to  harmonize  with  the  color  scheme.  The  styles 
most  used  at  present  are,  Louis  XIV,  XV,  XVI,  Jacobean, 
William  and  Mary,  and  Georgian.  Gothic,  Italian  and 
French  Renaissance,  Louis  XIII,  and  Tudor  styles  are  not 
so  commonly  used.     We  naturally  associate  dignity  and 


A  GENERAL  TALK  127 

grandeur  with  the  Renaissance,  and  it  is  rather  difficult  to 
make  it  seem  appropriate  for  the  average  American  house, 
so  it  is  usually  used  only  for  important  houses  and  buildings. 
Some  of  the  Tudor  manor  houses  can  be  copied  with  delight- 
ful effect.  The  styles  of  Henri  II  and  Louis  XIII  can  both 
be  used  in  libraries  and  dining-rooms  with  most  effective  and 
dignified  results. 

The  best  period  of  the  style  of  Louis  XV  is  very  beautiful 
and  is  delightfully  suited  to  ball-rooms,  small  reception- 
rooms,  boudoirs,  and  some  bedrooms.  In  regard  to  these 
last,  one  must  use  discretion,  for  one  would  not  expect  one's 
aged  grandmother  to  take  real  comfort  in  one.  Nor  does 
this  style  appeal  to  one  for  use  in  a  library,  as  its  gayety  and 
curves  would  not  harmonize  with  the  necessarily  straight 
lines  of  the  bookcases  and  rows  of  books.  Any  one  of  the 
other  styles  may  be  chosen  for  a  library. 

The  English  developed  the  dining-room  in  our  modern 
sense  of  the  word,  while  the  French  used  small  ante-cham- 
bers, or  rooms  that  were  used  for  other  purposes  between 
meals,  and  I  suppose  this  is  partly  the  reason  we  so  often 
turn  to  an  English  ideal  for  one.  There  are  many  beautiful 
dining-rooms  done  in  the  styles  of  Louis  XV  and  XVI,  but 
they  seem  more  like  gala  rooms  and  are  usually  distinctly 
formal  in  treatment.  Georgian  furniture,  or  as  we  so  often 
say,  Colonial,  is  especially  well  suited  to  our  American  life, 
as  one  can  have  a  very  simple  room,  or  one  carried  out  in  the 


128       FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

most  delightful  detail.  In  either  case  the  true  feeling  must 
be  kept  and  no  startling  anachronisms  should  be  allowed; 
radiators,  for  instance,  should  be  hidden  in  window-seats. 
This  same  style  may  be  used  for  any  room  in  the  house,  and 
there  are  beautiful  reproductions  of  Chippendale,  Adam, 
Hepplewhite,  and  Sheraton  furniture  that  are  appropriate 
for  any  need. 

In  choosing  new  "  old  "  furniture,  do  not  buy  any  that  has 
a  bright  and  hideous  finish.  The  great  cabinet-makers  and 
their  followers  used  wax,  or  oil,  and  rubbed,  rubbed,  rubbed. 
This  dull  finish  is  imitated,  but  not  equaled,  by  all  good  fur- 
niture makers,  and  the  bright  finish  simply  proclaims  the 
cheap  department  store. 

In  parts  of  the  country  Georgian  furniture  has  been  used 
and  served  as  a  standard  from  the  first,  and  it  is  a  happy 
thing  for  the  beauty  of  our  homes  that  once  more  it  has  come 
into  its  own.  It  is  the  high  grade  of  reproduction  which 
has  made  it  possible. 

The  mahogany  used  by  Chippendale,  and  in  fact  by  all 
the  eighteenth  century  cabinet-makers,  was  much  more  beau- 
tiful than  is  possible  to  get  to-day,  for  the  logs  were  old  and 
well  seasoned  wood,  allowed  to  dry  by  the  true  process  of 
time,  which  leaves  a  wonderful  depth  of  color  quite  impos- 
sible to  find  in  young  kiln-dried  wood.  The  best  furniture 
makers  nowadays,  those  who  have  a  high  standard  and  pride 
in  their  work,  have  by  careful  and  artistic  staining  and  beau- 


A  GENERAL  TALK  129 

tiful  finish,  achieved  very  fine  results,  but  the  factory  article 
with  its  dreadful  "  mahogany  "  stain,  its  coarse  carving,  and 
its  brilliant  finish,  shows  a  sad  difference  in  ideal. 
The  best  reproductions  are  well  worth  buying,  and, 
as  they  are  made  with  regard  to  the  laws  of  con- 
struction, they  stand  a  very  good  chance  of  becoming  valued 
heirlooms.  There  are  certain  characteristics  of  all  the 
eighteenth  century  cabinet-makers,  both  English  and 
French,  which  are  picked  out  and  overdone  by  ill-informed 
manufacturers.  The  rococo  of  Chippendale  is  coarsened,  his 
Chinese  style  loses  its  fine,  if  eccentric,  distinction,  and  the 
inlay  of  Hepplewhite  and  Sheraton  is  another  example  of 
spoiling  a  beautiful  thing.  Thickening  a  line  here  and  there, 
or  curving  a  curve  a  bit  more  or  less,  or  enlarging  the  amount 
of  inlay,  achieves  a  vulgarity  of  appearance  quite  different 
from  the  beautiful  proportions  of  the  originals,  and  it  is  this 
which  one  must  guard  against  in  buying  reproductions.  The 
lack  of  knowledge  of  correct  proportion  is  not  confined  to  the 
cheaper  grades,  where  necessary  simplicity  is  often  a  pro- 
tection, but  is  apt  to  be  found  in  all.  The  best  makers,  as 
I  have  said,  take  a  pride  in  their  work  and  one  can  rely  on 
them  for  fine  workmanship  and  being  true  to  the  spirit  of 
the  originals. 

There  is  one  matter  of  great  importance  to  be  kept  in 
mind  and  practiced  with  the  sternest  self-control,  and  that 
is,  to  eliminate,  eliminate,  eliminate.     Walk  into  the  center  of 


130        FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

a  room  and  look  about  with  seeing,  but  impersonal  eyes,  and 
you  will  be  astonished  to  find  how  many  things  there  are 
which  are  unnecessary,  in  fact,  how  much  the  room  would  be 
improved  without  them.  In  every  house  the  useless  things 
which  go  under  the  generic  name  of  "  trash  "  accumulate 
with  alarming  swiftness,  and  one  must  be  up  with  the  lark 
to  keep  ahead  of  the  supply.  If  something  is  ugly  and  spoils 
a  room,  and  there  is  no  hope  of  bringing  it  into  harmony, 
discard  it ;  turn  your  eyes  aside  if  you  must  while  the  deed  is 
being  done,  but  screw  your  courage  to  the  sticking  point, 
and  do  it.  She  is,  indeed,  a  lucky  woman  who  can  start  from 
the  beginning  or  has  only  beautiful  heritages  from  the  past, 
for  the  majority  of  people  have  some  distressingly  strong 
pieces  of  ugly  furniture  which,  for  one  reason  or  another, 
must  be  kept.  One  sensible  woman  furnished  a  room  with 
all  her  pieces  of  this  kind,  called  it  the  Chamber  of  Horrors, 
and  used  it  only  under  great  stress  and  strain,  which  was 
much  better  than  letting  her  house  be  spoiled. 

A  home  should  not  be  a  museum,  where  one  grows  ex- 
hausted going  from  one  room  to  another  looking  at  wonder- 
ful things.  Rather  should  it  have  as  many  beautiful  things 
in  it  as  can  be  done  full  justice  to,  where  the  feeling  of  sim- 
plicity and  restfulness  and  charm  adds  to  their  beauty,  and 
the  whole  is  convincingly  right.  The  fussy  house  is,  luckily, 
a  thing  of  the  past,  or  fast  getting  to  be  so,  but  we  should  all 
Lelp  the  good  cause  of  true  simplicity.     It  does  not  debar 


'A  GENERAL  TALK  131 

one  from  the  most  beautiful  things  in  the  world,  but  adds 
dignity  and  worth  to  them.  It  does  not  make  rooms  stiif 
and  solemn,  but  makes  it  possible  to  have  the  true  gayety  and 
joy  of  life  expressed  in  the  best  periods. 


Georgian   Furniture 


I 


Georgian   Furniture 

A  DELIGHTFUL  renaissance  of  the  Georgian 
period  in  house  decoration  is  being  felt  more  and 
more,  and  every  day  we  see  new  evidence  that 
people  are  turning  with  thanksgiving  to  the  light  and  grace- 
ful designs  of  the  eighteenth  century  English  cabinet-makers. 
There  is  a  charm  and  distinction  about  their  work  which  ap- 
peals very  strongly  to  us,  and  its  beauty  and  simpHcity  of 
line  makes  delightful  schemes  possible. 

The  Georgian  period  seems  especially  fitted  for  use  in  our 
homes,  for  it  was  the  inspiration  of  our  Colonial  houses  and 
furniture,  which  we  adapted  and  made  our  own  in  many  ways. 
The  best  examples  of  Colonial  architecture  are  found  in  the 
thirteen  original  states.  In  many  of  these  houses  we  find  an 
almost  perfect  sense  of  proportion,  of  harmony  and  balance, 
of  dignity,  and  a  spaciousness  and  sense  of  hospitality,  which 
few  of  our  modern  houses  achieve.  The  halls  were  broad 
and  often  went  directly  through  the  house,  giving  a  glimpse 
of  the  garden  beyond ;  the  stairs  with  their  carefully  thought-, 
out  curve  and  sweep  and  well  placed  landings,  gave  at  once 
an  air  of  importance  to  the  house,  while  the  large  rooms  open- 
ing from  the  hall,  with  their  white  woodwork,  their  large  fire- 

135 


136       FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

places,  and  comfortable  window-seats,  confirmed  the  impres- 
sion. 

It  is  to  tliis  ideal  of  simple  and  beautiful  elegance  that 
many  people  are  turning.  By  simplicity  I  do  not  mean  pov- 
erty of  line  and  decoration,  but  the  simplicity  given  by  the 
fundamental  lines  being  simple  and  beautiful  with  decora- 
tion which  enhances  their  charms,  but  does  not  overload 
them.  Even  the  most  elaborate  Adam  room  with  its  ex- 
quisite painted  furniture,  its  beautifully  designed  mantel  and 
ceiling  and  paneled  walls,  gave  the  feeling  of  delightful  and 
beautiful  simplicity.  This  same  feeling  is  expressed  in  the 
furniture  of  Louis  XVI,  for  no  matter  how  elaborate  it  may 
be,  it  is  fundamentally  simple,  but  with  a  warmer  touch  than 
is  found  in  the  English  furniture  of  the  same  time. 

The  question  of  period  furnishing  has  two  sides,  and  by 
far  the  more  delightful  side  is  the  one  of  having  originals. 
There  is  a  glamor  about  old  furniture,  a  certain  air  of  fragil- 
ity, although  in  reality  it  is  usually  much  stronger  than  most 
of  our  modern  factory  output,  which  adds  to  the  charm. 
With  furniture,  as  with  people,  breeding  will  out.  When 
one  has  inherited  the  furniture,  the  charm  is  still  greater,  for 
it  is  pleasant  to  think  of  one's  own  ancestors  as  having  used 
the  chairs  and  tables,  and  danced  the  stately  minuet,  with  soft 
candle-light  falling  from  the  candelabra,  and  the  great  logs 
burning  on  the  old  brass  andirons.  But  if  one  cannot  have 
one's  own  family  traditions,  the  next  best  thing  is  to  have 


GEORGIAN  FURNITURE  137 

furniture  with  some  other  family's  traditions,  and  the  third 
choice  is  to  have  the  best  modern  reproductions,  and  build 
up  one's  own  traditions  oneself. 

The  feeling  which  many  people  have  that  Georgian  furni- 
ture was  stiff  and  uncomfortable  is  not  borne  out  by  the 
facts.  The  sofas  were  large  and  roomy,  the  settees  delight- 
ful, the  arm-chairs  and  wing  chairs  regular  havens  of  rest, 
and  when  one  adds  the  comfort  which  modern  upholstery 
gives,  there  is  little  left  to  desire.  Even  the  regulation  side- 
chair  of  the  period,  which  some  think  was  the  only  chair  in 
very  common  use,  is  absolutely  comfortable  for  its  purpose. 
Lounging  was  much  less  in  vogue  then  than  nowadays  and 
the  old  cabinet-makers  realized  that  one  must  be  comfortable 
when  sitting  up  as  well  as  when  taking  one's  ease.  One  must 
not  be  deterred  by  this  unfounded  bugaboo  of  discomfort  if 
one  wishes  a  room  or  house  done  after  the  great  period  styles 
of  the  eighteenth  century.  With  care  and  knowledge,  the 
result  is  sure  to  be  delightful  and  beautiful. 

This  little  book,  as  I  have  said  before,  is  not  intended  to  be 
a  guide  for  collectors,  for  that  is  a  very  big  subject  in  itself, 
but  is  meant  to  try  to  help  a  little  about  the  modern  side  of 
the  question.  There  are  many  grades  of  furniture  made, 
and  one  should  buy  with  circumspection,  and  the  best  grade 
which  is  possible  for  one  to  afford.  The  very  best  reproduc- 
tions are  made  with  as  much  care  and  knowledge  and  skill 
as  the  originals,  and  will  last  as  long,  and  become  treasured 


138        FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

heirlooms  like  those  handed  down  to  us.  They  are  works  of 
art  like  their  eighteenth  century  models.  The  wood  is 
chosen  with  regard  to  its  beauty  of  grain,  and  is  treated  and 
finished  so  the  beauty  and  depth  of  color  is  brought  out, 
and  the  surface  is  rubbed  until  there  is  a  soft  glow  to  it. 
If  one  could  have  the  ages-old  mahogany  which  Chip- 
pendale and  his  contemporaries  used,  there  would  be  little 
to  choose  between  the  originals  and  our  best  reproductions,  so 
far  as  soundness  of  construction  and  beauty  of  detail  go. 
But  the  fact  that  they  were  the  originals  of  a  great  style, 
that  no  one  since  then  has  been  able  to  design  any  furniture 
of  greater  beauty  than  that  of  England  and  France  in  the 
eighteenth  century,  and  that  we  are  still  copying  it,  gives  an 
added  charm  to  a  rare  old  chair  or  sideboard  or  mirror.  The 
modern  workman  in  the  best  workshops  is  obliged  to  know 
the  different  styles  so  well  that  he  cannot  make  mis- 
takes, and  if  he  ventures  to  take  a  little  flight  of  fancy  on  his 
own  account,  it  will  be  done  with  such  correctness  of  feeling 
that  one  is  glad  he  flew;  but  few  attempt  it.  In  the  lower 
grade  of  reproductions  one  must  have  an  eagle  eye  when  buy- 
ing. I  saw  a  rather  astounding  looking  Chippendale  chair 
in  a  shop  one  day,  with  a  touch  of  Gothic  * —  a  suspicion  of 
his  early  Dutch  manner  ^—  and,  to  give  a  final  touch,  tapering 
legs  with  carved  bellflowers!  "What  authority  have  you 
for  that  chair? "  I  asked,  for  I  really  wanted  to  know  what 
they  would  call  the  wonder. 


GEORGIAN  FURNITURE  139 

"  That,"  the  shopman  answered,  the  pride  of  knowledge 
shining  in  his  eyes,  "  is  Chinese  Chippendale." 

Another  anachronism  which  has  appeared  lately,  and  sad 
to  say  in  some  of  the  shops  that  should  know  better,  is  painted 
Adam  furniture  with  pictures  on  it  of  the  famous  actresses 
of  the  eighteenth  century.  The  painting  of  Angelica  KaufF- 
man,  Cipriani,  Pergolesi  and  the  others,  was  charming  and 
delightful.  Nymphs  and  cupids,  flowers,  wreaths,  musical 
instruments,  and  poetical  little  scenes,  but  never  the  head  of 
a  living  woman !  The  bad  taste  of  it  would  have  been  as  ap- 
parent to  them  as  putting  the  picture  of  JNIiss  Marlowe,  or 
Lillian  Russell  on  a  chair  back  would  be  to  us. 

The  finish  is  another  matter  to  bear  in  mind.  There  is  a 
thick  red  stain,  which  for  some  mysterious  reason  is  called 
mahogany,  which  is  put  on  cheaper  grades  of  furniture  and 
finished  with  a  high  polish.  Fortunately,  it  is  chiefly  used 
on  furniture  of  vulgar  design,  but  it  sometimes  creeps  in  on 
better  models.  Shun  it  whenever  seen.  The  handles  must 
be  correct  alsOj  and  a  glance  at  the  diiFerent  illustrations 
will  be  of  help  in  this  matter. 

The  pieces  of  furniture  used  throughout  a  house,  no  mat- 
ter what  the  period  may  be,  are  more  or  less  the  same,  so 
many  chairs,  tables,  beds,  mirrors,  etc.,  and  when  one  has  de- 
cided what  one's  needs  are,  the  matter  of  selection  is  much 
simphfied.  Of  course  one's  needs  are  influenced  by  the  size 
of  the  house,  one's  circumstances,  and  one's  manner  of  life. 


140       FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

To  be  successful,  a  house  must  be  furnished  in  absolute  har- 
mony with  the  life  within  its  walls.  A  small  house  does  not 
need  an  elaborate  drawing-room,  which  could  only  be  had 
at  the  expense  of  family  comfort;  a  simple  drawing-room 
would  be  far  better,  really  more  of  a  hving-room.  In  a  large 
house  one  may  have  as  many  as  one  wishes. 

A  house  could  be  furnished  throughout  with  Chippen- 
dale furniture  and  show  no  sign  of  monotony  of  treatment. 
The  walls  could  be  paneled  in  some  rooms,  wainscoted  in 
others,  and  papered  in  others.  This  question  of  paper  is 
one  we  have  taken  in  our  own  hands  nowadays,  and  although 
it  was  not  used  much  before  the  late  eighteenth  and  early 
nineteenth  centuries,  there  are  so  many  lovely  designs  copied 
from  old-time  stuffs  and  landscape  papers,  which  are  in 
harmony  with  the  furniture,  that  they  are  used  with  perfect 
propriety.  One  must  be  careful  not  to  choose  anjrthing  with 
a  too  modern  air,  and  a  plain  wall  is  always  safe. 

The  average  hall  will  probably  need  a  pair  of  console 
tables  and  mirrors,  some  chairs.  Oriental  rugs,  a  tall  clock 
if  one  wishes,  and,  if  the  hall  is  very  large  and  calls  for  more 
furniture,  there  are  many  other  interesting  pieces  to  choose 
from.  A  hall  should  be  treated  with  a  certain  amount  of 
formality,  and  the  greater  the  house,  the  greater  the  amount; 
but  it  also  should  have  an  air  of  hospitality,  of  impersonal 
welcome,  which  makes  one  wish  to  enter  the  rooms  beyond 
where  the  real  welcome  waits. 


r 

^^2^ 

1 

'  "^ 

^-^'^^':^4^J(^^^ 

1 

■■■1 

1 

\ 

1 

This   group   of   old   mirrors    indicates    the   extent    to   which    refinement    of 

design  was  carried  during  the  Georgian  period  in   England — the  time  of 

the  great  cabinet-makers 


GEORGIAN  FURNITURE  141 

The  window  frames  of  Colonial  and  Georgian  houses  were 
often  of  such  good  design  that  no  curtains  were  used,  and 
the  wooden  inside  shutters  were  shut  at  night.  Nowadays 
the  average  house  has  what  might  be  called  utility  woodwork 
at  its  windows  and  so  we  cover  them  with  curtains.  These 
curtains  may  be  of  linen,  cretonne,  damask,  or  brocade,  ac- 
cording to  the  house,  and  may  either  fall  straight  at  the 
side  with  a  slight  drapery  or  shaped  or  plain  valance  at  the 
top,  or  be  drawn  back  from  the  center,  A  carved  cornice 
or  the  regular  box  frame  may  be  used. 

The  stairs  were  often  of  beautifully  polished  hardwood, 
and  they  were  sometimes  covered  with  rugs.  Large  Chinese 
porcelain  jars  on  the  console  tables  are  suitable,  and  other 
beautiful  ornaments. 

As  the  drawing-room  usually  opens  from  the  hall,  it 
is  better  to  keep  both  rooms  in  the  same  general  scale  of 
furnishing.  The  average  sized  drawing-room  will  need  sofas, 
a  small  settee,  two  or  three  tables,  one  of  them  a  gallery  table 
if  desired,  chairs  of  different  shapes  and  size,  mirrors,  a  cabi- 
net if  one  has  rare  pieces  of  old  porcelain,  and  candelabra. 
Oriental  rugs,  a  fire  screen,  ornaments,  and  pictures,  but 
these  last  should  not  be  of  the  modern  impressionistic  school. 
The  woodwork  should  be  white,  or  light,  and  the  furniture 
covered  with  damask,  needlework,  brocade  or  tapestry. 

The  dining-room  can  be  made  most  charming  with  corner 
cupboards  and  cabinet,  a  large  mahogany  table  and  side 


14£        FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

table  and  beautiful  morocco  covered  chairs.  Chippendale 
did  not  make  sideboards  in  our  sense  of  the  word,  but  used 
large  side  tables.  One  of  the  modem  designs  which  many- 
like  to  use,  for  to  them  it  seems  a  necessity,  is  a  sideboard 
made  in  the  style  of  Chippendale.  The  screen  may  be 
leather  painted  after  "  the  Chinese  taste,"  or  it  may  be  dam- 
ask. The  chairs  may  be  covered  with  tapestry  or  damask 
if  one  does  not  care  for  morocco.  Portraits  are  interesting 
in  a  dining-room,  or  old  prints,  or  paintings,  and  if  you  can 
get  the  old  dull  gold  carved  frames,  so  much  the  better. 
They  may  also  be  set  in  panels. 

The  bedrooms  may  have  either  four-post  canopy  beds  or 
low-posts  beds.  Cliippendale's  canopy  beds  had  usually  a 
carved  cornice  with  the  curtains  hung  from  the  inside.  The 
other  furniture  should  consist  of  a  dressing-table,  a  chest  of 
drawers  to  correspond  with  a  chiffonier,  a  highboy,  a  sewing 
table,  a  bedside  table,  a  comfortable  sofa,  a  fireside  or  wing 
chair  and  other  chairs  according  to  one's  need.  The  walls 
may  be  covered  with  either  an  old-fashioned  or  plain  paper, 
—  or  paneled,  with  hangings  and  chair  coverings  of  chintz  or 
cretonne.  The  bed  hangings  may  be  of  cretonne  also,  for 
it  makes  a  very  charming  room,  but  if  one  objects  to  colored 
bed  hangings,  white  dimity,  or  muslin  or  linen  may  be  used. 

It  is  the  art  of  keeping  the  correct  feeling  which  makes 
or  mars  a  room  of  this  kind,  and  no  pieces  of  markedly  mod- 
ern and  inharmonious  furniture  should  be  used.     In  furnish- 


GEORGIAN  FURNITURE  143 

ing  a  house  in  Georgian  or  Colonial  manner  one  need  not 
keep  all  the  rooms  in  the  same  division  of  the  period,  for 
there  is  a  certain  general  air  of  harmony  and  relationship 
about  them  all,  and  the  common  bond  of  mahogany  makes 
it  possible  to  have  a  Chippendale  hbrary,  an  Adam  drawing- 
room,  a  Hepplewhite  dining-room  and  a  Sheraton  hall,  or 
any  other  combination  desired.  The  spirit  of  all  the  eight- 
eenth century  cabinet-makers  was  one  of  honest  con- 
struction and  beauty  of  line  and  workmanship.  When 
they  took  ideas  from  other  sources  they  made  them  so  dis- 
tinctly their  own,  so  essentially  English  that  there  is  a  family 
resemblance  through  all  their  work. 

Adam  decoration  and  furniture  makes  mofst  delightful 
rooms.  The  painted  satinwood  furniture  for  dining-room, 
drawing-room  and  bedrooms,  lends  itself  to  lovely  schemes 
with  its  soft  golden  tones,  its  delightfully  woven  cane  chair 
backs  and  panels.  A  room  on  the  sunny  side  of  the  house, 
with  a  soft  old  ivory  colored  wall,  dull  blue  silk  curtains, 
and  a  yellow  and  blue  Chinese  rug,  would  be  most  charming 
with  this  satinwood  furniture. 

Then,  as  I  have  said  before,  there  are  the  many  different 
shades  of  enameled  and  carved  furniture  and  also  beautiful 
natural  wood.  One  can  have  more  of  a  sideboard  in  an 
Adam  than  in  a  Chippendale  room,  as  he  used  two  pedestals, 
one  at  each  end  of  a  large  serving-table.  He  often  made 
tables  to  fit  in  niches,  which  is  a  charming  idea. 


1441       FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

An  Adam  mantel  is  very  distinctive  and  one  should  be 
careful  in  having  it  correct.  There  are  beautiful  reproduc- 
tions made.  The  lamp  and  candle  shades  should  also  be  de- 
signed in  the  spirit  of  the  time.  There  are  lovely  Adam 
designs  in  nearly  all  materials  suitable  for  hangings  and 
chair  coverings.  Oriental  rugs  or  plain  colored  carpets  ap- 
peal to  us  more  than  large-figured  rugs.  Adam  sometimes 
had  special  rugs  made  exactly  reproducing  the  design  of 
the  ceiling,  but  it  is  an  idea  that  is  better  forgotten. 

With  Hepplewhite  and  Sheraton  the  same  general  ideas 
hold ;  keep  to  the  spirit  of  the  furniture,  try  to  have  a  central 
idea  in  the  house  furnishing,  so  that  the  restful  effect  of 
harmony  may  be  given. 

The  rugs  which  harmonize  best  with  Georgian  furniture 
are  Orientals  of  different  weaves  and  colors,  or  plain  do- 
mestic carpet  rugs.  The  floor  should  be  the  darkest  of  the 
three  divisions  of  a  room  —  the  floor,  the  walls,  the^ceiling, 
but  it  should  be  an  even  gradation  of  color  value,  the  walls 
half-way  in  tone  between  the  other  two.  This  is  a  safe  gen- 
eral plan,  to  be  varied  when  necessity  demands.  In  drawing- 
rooms  light  and  soft  colors  are  usually  in  better  harmony 
than-dark  ones,  and  a  wide  and  beautiful  choice  can  be  made 
among  Kermanshah,  Kirman,  Khorasan,  Tabriz,  Chinese, 
Oman  rugs,  and  many  others.  It  is  more  restful  in  effect  if 
the  greater  part  of  the  floor  is  covered  with  a  large  rug,  but  if 
one  has  beautiful  small  rugs  they  may  be  used  if  they  are 


tW 

:^ 

mm 
... 

.     i 

i 

I 

LMHI^^^^^^^*™1  .^^^^^g| 

T 

These  copies  of  rare  old  pieces  of  furniture  are  of  the  best.     The 

choice  of  wood,  the  carving,  the  inlay,  all  show  the  highest  ideals. 

The   Chinese   Chippendale   table   shows   the  pagoda   effect,   and   the 

Hepplewhite  desk  has  the  charm  of  a  secret  drawer 


i^s-::.v« 


_  iStii  3it<L'  "-a 


-  H 


.    3 


GEORGIAN  FURNITURE  145 

enough  alike  in  general  tone  to  escape  the  appearance  of  be- 
ing spotty.  One  should  try  them  in  different  positions  un- 
til the  best  arrangement  is  found. 

Living-rooms  and  libraries  are  usually  more  solid  in  color 
than  drawing-rooms  and  so  need  deeper  tones  in  the  rugs. 
The  choice  is  wide,  and  the  color  scheme  can  be  the  deciding 
note  if  one  is  buying  new  rugs.  If  one  already  has  rugs 
they  must  be  the  foundation  for  the  color  scheme  of  the  room. 


i 


Furnishing    With  French   Furniture 


I 


fe 


_   o 


r/l     <U 
(J     r/, 


oH 


"t     t*"^ 


7  rowbndge  &  Lwmgston,  architects 

The  beauiy  and  dignity  of  the  painted  over-door  is  well  shown  in  this  drawing- 
room 


Furnishing    With   French   Furniture 

L  LY  %  ^HIS  is  my  Louis  XVI  drawing-room,"  said  a 
I       lady,  proudly  displaying  her  house. 

"  What   makes   you   think    so? "    asked    her 
well  informed  friend. 

To  guard  against  the  possibility  of  such  biting  humor  one 
must  be  ever  on  the  alert  in  furnishing  a  period  room.  It  is 
not  a  bow-knot  and  a  rococo  curve  or  two  that  will  turn  a 
modern  room,  fresh  from  the  builder's  hands,  into  a  Louis 
XV  drawing-room. 

French  furniture  is  not  appropriate  to  all  kinds  of  houses, 
and  it  is  often  difficult  to  adapt  it  to  circumstances  over 
which  one  has  no  control.  The  leisurely  and  pleasant  cus- 
tom of  our  ancestors  of  building  a  house  as  they  wished  it, 
and  what  is  more,  living  in  it  for  generations,  is  more  or  less 
a  thing  of  the  past.  Nowadays  a  house  is  built,  and  is  com- 
plete and  beautiful  in  every  way,  but  almost  before  the  house- 
warming  is  over,  business  is  sitting  on  the  doorstep,  and  so 
^  the  family  moves  on.  We,  as  a  nation,  have  not  the  com- 
fortable point  of  view  of  the  English  who  consider  their  home, 
their  home,  no  matter  how  the  outside  world  may  be  behav- 
ing. Their  front  doors  are  the  protection  which  insures 
their  cherished  privacy,  and  the  feeling  that  they  are  as  set- 

149 


150        FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

tied  as  the  everlasting  hills  gives  a  calmness  to  their  attitude 
toward  life  which  is  often  missing  from  ours.  How  many- 
times  have  we  heard  people  say  when  talking  over  plans  ^— * 
"  Have  it  thus  and  so,  for  it  would  be  much  better  in  case  we 
ever  care  to  sell."  This  attitude,  to  which  of  course  there 
are  hundreds  of  exceptions,  is  an  outgrowth  of  our  busy  life 
and  our  tremendous  country.  The  larger  part  of  the  home 
ideal  is  the  one  which  Americans  so  firmly  believe  in  and 
act  upon  ^ — '  that  it  is  the  spirit  and  atmosphere  which  makes 
a  home,  and  not  only  the  bricks  and  mortar. 

It  is  this  point  of  view  which  makes  it  possible  for  many 
of  us  to  live  happily  in  rented  houses  whose  architecture  and 
arrangement  often  give  us  cold  shivers.  We  are  not  to 
blame  if  all  the  proportions  are  wrong;  and  there  is  a  certain 
pleasure  in  getting  the  better  of  difficulties. 

If  one  is  building  a  house,  or  is  living  in  one  planned  with 
a  due  regard  to  some  special  period,  and  has  a  well  thought 
out  scheme  of  decoration,  the  work  is  much  simplified;  but 
if  one  has  to  live  in  the  average  nondescript  house  and  wishes 
to  use  French  furniture,  the  problem  will  take  time  and 
thought  to  solve.  In  tliis  kind  of  house,  if  one  cannot  change 
it  at  all,  it  is  better  to  keep  as  simple  and  unobtrusive  a 
background  as  possible,  to  have  the  color  scheme  and  hang- 
ings and  furniture  so  beautiful  that  they  are  a  convincing 
reason  themselves  of  the  need  of  their  being  there,  but  one 
should  not  try  to  turn  the  room  itself  into  a  period  room. 


FURNISHING  WITH  FRENCH  FURNITURE         151 

for  it  would  mean  failure.  The  walls  may  be  covered  with 
a  light  plain  paper,  or  silk,  the  woodwork  enameled  white  or 
cream  or  ivory,  and  then  with  one's  mirrors  and  furnishings, 
the  best  thing  possible  has  been  done,  and  it  ought  to  be  a 
charming  room,  if  not  a  perfect  one.  If  one  can  make  a 
few  changes  I  advise  new  lighting  fixtures  and  a  new  mantel, 
for  these  two  important  objects  in  the  room  are  conspicuous 
and  nearly  always  wrong. 

It  is  almost  impossible  to  give  a  list  of  furniture  for  each 
room  in  a  house,  as  each  house  is  a  law  unto  itself,  but  the 
fundamental  principles  of  beauty  and  utility  and  appropri- 
ateness apply  to  all. 

The  furniture  of  the  time  of  Louis  XIV,  having  so  much 
that  is  magnificent  about  it,  is  especially  well  suited  to  large 
rooms  for  state  occasions,  great  ballrooms  and  state  draw- 
ing-rooms. These  rooms  not  being  destined  for  everyday 
use  should  be  treated  as  a  brilliant  background;  paneling, 
painting,  tapestry,  and  gilding  should  decorate  the  walls, 
and  beautiful  lights  and  mirrors  should  aid  in  the  eiFect  of 
brilliancy.  It  must  be  done  with  such  knowledge  that  there 
is  no  suggestion  of  an  hotel  about  it.  Console  tables,  and 
large  and  dignified  chairs  should  be  used  for  furniture. 
Nothing  small  and  fussy  in  the  way  of  ornaments  should  be 
put  in  the  rooms,  for  they  would  be  completelj''  out  of  scale 
and  ruin  the  eiFect. 

Every  house  does  not  need  these  rooms  for  the  elaborate 


15a       FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

side  of  life,  and  the  average  drawing-room  is  a  much  simpler 
affair.  If  both  kinds  are  required  the  simpler  one  should 
be  in  the  same  general  style  as  the  great  rooms,  but  not  on 
so  grand  a  scale.  If  the  style  of  Louis  XV  is  chosen  for 
all,  in  the  family  drawing-  and  living-rooms  the  paneling,  or 
dado,  and  furniture  should  be  of  the  simpler  kind,  and  beau- 
tiful, gay,  and  home-like  rooms,  evolved  with  soft  colored 
brocades,  Beauvais  or  Gobelin  tapestry,  and  either  gilded 
or  enameled  or  natural  walnut  furniture.  The  arm-chairs 
or  hergeres  of  both  Louis  XV  and  Louis  XVI  are  very 
comfortable,  the  chaise-longue  cannot  be  surpassed,  and  the 
settees  of  different  shapes  and  sizes  are  delightful.  There 
need  be  no  lack  of  comfort  in  any  period  room,  whether 
French  or  English. 

A  music  room,  to  be  perfect,  should  not  have  heavy  drap- 
eries to  deaden  the  sound,  and  the  window  and  door  open- 
ings should  be  treated  architecturally  to  make  this  possible. 
In  a  French  music  room  the  walls  may  be  either  paneled, 
or  have  a  dado  with  a  soft  tint  above  it.  This  space  may  be 
treated  in  several  ways:  it  may  have  silk  panels  outlined 
with  moldings,  or  dainty  pastoral  scenes  painted  and  framed 
with  wreaths  and  garlands  of  composition.  The  style  of  the 
Regency  with  its  use  of  musical  instruments  for  decorative 
motifs  is  also  attractive.  The  chairs  should  be  comfortable, 
the  lights  soft  and  well  shaded  side-lights,  with  a  plentiful 
supply  near  the  piano. 


A  beautiful  cloor\va\'  in       •    ]>•   '\  )om  of  the   Empress.  Ccmpiegne.     The  fasten- 
ing shows  how  much  thought  was  expended  on  fm.all  matters,  so  the  balance  of 
decoration  would  be  kept.     The  chairs  are   Louis   XVI 


'-m^m- 


An    exquisite    reproduction    of    the    bed    of    Marie 
Antoinette 


^^^^^^^Bii^^^'^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^l 

1 

— ^rhmmimnnii imi t^  — 

\,m 

^■'1 

i 

^^^V  ■ 

1 

A  simple  but  charming  Louis  XVI  bed  in  enamel 
and  cane 


FURNISHING  WITH  FRENCH  FURNITURE         153 

A  piano  is  usually  a  difficulty,  for  they  are  so  unwieldy 
and  dark  that  they  are  quite  out  of  key  with  the  rest  of  the 
room.  We  have  become  so  used  to  its  ugliness,  however, 
that,  sad  to  say,  we  are  not  so  much  shocked  by  it  as  we 
should  be,  thinking  it  a  necessary  evil.  If  we  walk  through 
the  show  rooms  of  one  of  the  great  piano  companies  we  shall 
see  that  this  is  a  mistake,  for  there  are  many  cases  made  of 
light  colored  woods,  and  some  have  a  much  more  graceful 
outline  than  the  regulation  piano.  Cases  can  be  made  to 
order  to  suit  any  scheme,  if  one  has  a  competent  designer. 
A  music  room  should  not  have  small  and  meaningless  orna- 
ments in  it;  the  ideal  is  a  restful  and  charming  room  where 
one  may  listen  with  an  undistracted  mind. 

The  modern  dining-room  with  all  its  comforts  is  really  of 
English  descent.  In  France,  even  in  the  eighteenth  century, 
only  the  palaces  and  great  houses  had  rooms  especially  set 
apart  for  dining-rooms.  Usually  a  small  ante-chamber  was 
used,  which  served  as  a  boudoir  or  reception  room  between 
meals.  To  our  more  established  point  of  view  it  seems  a  very 
casual  method.  At  last,  late  in  the  century,  the  real  ideal  of 
a  dining-room  began  to  gain  ground,  and  although  they  were 
very  different  from  ours,  we  find  really  charming  ones  de- 
scribed and  pictured.  The  walls  were  usually  light  in  tone, 
paneled,  with  graceful  ornamentation,  and  often  there  were 
niches  containing  wall-fountains  of  delightful  design.  The 
sideboards  were  either  large  side-tables,  or  a  species  of  side- 


154        FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

table  built  in  niches,  with  a  fountain  between  them  which  was 
used  as  a  wine  cooler.  These  fountains  where  cupids  and 
dolphins  disported  themselves  would  be  a  most  attractive  fea- 
ture to  copy  in  some  of  our  rooms,  in  country  houses  espe- 
cially. The  tables  were  round  or  square,  but  not  the  exten- 
sion type  which  came  later  from  England,  and  the  chairs  were 
comfortable,  with  broad  upholstered  or  cane  seats,  and  rather 
low  backs.  There  should  be  a  screen  to  harmonize  with  the 
room  in  front  of  the  pantry  door.  We  also  add  hangings, 
for,  as  I  have  said  many  times,  our  window-frames  are  not 
a  decoration  in  themselves.  Old  prints  show  most  delight- 
fully the  manner  in  which  curtains  were  hung  when  they 
were  used;  the  very  elaborate  methods,  however,  were  not 
used  by  the  better  class. 

A  morning-room  should  be  furnished  as  a  small  informal 
living-room,  and  the  simpler  style  of  the  chosen  period  used. 

The  style  of  Louis  XVI  is  beautifully  adapted  to  li- 
braries, for  they  do  not  have  to  be  dark  and  solid  in  style,  as 
many  seem  to  think.  In  fact  a  library  may  be  in  any  style 
if  carried  out  with  the  true  feeling  and  love  of  books,  but  of 
course  some  styles  are  more  appropriate  than  others.  In  a 
Louis  XVI  library  the  paneling  gives  way  to  the  built-in 
bookcases  which  are  spaced  with  due  regard  to  keeping  the 
correct  proportions.  There  is  usually  a  cupboard  space  run- 
ning round  the  room  about  the  height  of  a  dado  and  project- 
ing a  little  beyond  the  bookcases  above.     The  colors  of  the 


FURNISHING  WITH  FRENCH  FURNITURE        155 

rugs  and  hangings  may  be  warm  and  rich  as  the  books  give 
the  walls  a  certain  strength. 

There  are  also  beautiful  reproductions  of  bedroom  furni- 
ture, chairs  and  dressing-tables,  desks,  chiffoniers  and 
Chaises-longues,  and  beds. 

Andirons,  side-lights  for  the  walls  and  dressing-table, 
doorknobs  and  locks,  can  all  be  carried  out  perfectly. 
Lamp  and  candle  shades  and  sofa  cushions  should  all  be 
in  keeping.  The  walls  may  be  paneled  in  wood  enameled 
with  white  or  some  light  color,  or  they  may  be  covered  with 
silk  or  paper,  in  a  panel  design,  with  curtains  to  match. 
There  are  lovely  designs  in  French  period  stuffs. 

The  rugs  most  appropriate  for  French  period  rooms  are 
light  or  medium  in  tone,  and  of  Persian  design.  The  floral 
patterns  of  the  Persians  seem  to  harmonize  better  with  the 
curves  and  style  of  furniture  than  do  the  geometrical  de- 
signs of  the  Caucasian  rugs.  Savonrierie  and  Aubusson 
rugs  may  also  be  used,  if  chosen  with  care,  and  the  plain 
carpets  and  rugs  mentioned  later  are  a  far  better  choice 
than  gaudy  Orientals  of  modern  make,  or  bad  imitations. 


Craftsman   Furniture 


Craftsman    Furniture 

FOR  the  greater  part  of  the  nineteenth  century  art  in 
household  decoration  did  not  exist.  "  Early  Vic- 
torian "  threw  its  baleful  influence  over  all,  and  the 
houses  were  ugly  and  the  rooms  of  false  proportions,  the  fur- 
niture bad  in  design,  usually  of  black  walnut  with  bunches 
and  knobs  of  supposed  ornament  upon  it,  the  carpets  were 
overpoweringly  bright  with  huge  figures,  the  curtains  were 
so  festooned  that  they  became  useless  for  their  purpose. 
The  fact  that  it  was  considered  possible  to  put  magenta  and 
scarlet  side  by  side,  points  the  moral  of  the  tale  of  ugliness. 
At  last  human  nature  could  stand  it  no  longer,  and  William 
Morris,  that  benefactor  of  mankind,  came  to  the  rescue.  He 
worked  early  and  late  trying  to  teach  the  ideal  of  beauty  to 
a  public  almost  blind  from  the  glare  of  ugliness.  Slowly 
things  grew  better,  until  now  we  of  the  twentieth  century 
think  that  we  have  some  right  to  sit  in  judgment.  Out  of 
the  chaos  have  come  several  results,  all  with  the  same  end  in 
view  ^—  the  beauty  and  comfort  of  the  home.  First  we  have 
awakened  to  the  high  artistic  and  constructive  standards  of 
the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries,  and  welcome  the 
many  reproductions  of  French  and  English  furniture  of 
those  times.     Another  result  has  been  to  inspire  a  great 

159 


V 


160        FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

wish  to  form  a  new  style  of  decoration,  which  is  shown  in  the 
"  Art  Nouveau  "  movement  in  Europe.  It  is  founded  on 
the  idea  of  growth  in  nature,  long  beautiful  curves,  which 
unfortunately  are  not  always  applicable  to  furniture.  The 
best  work  is  done  in  Europe,  and  we  see  very  little  of  it  here. 
It  is  still  in  its  infancy  and  as  time  goes  on  will  probably  im- 
prove. Some  already  has  beauty  and  fine  feehng  for  de- 
sign, and  the  lovely  color  schemes  of  inlaid  wood  and  metal 
give  a  charm  to  some  of  the  finished  examples  which  a  picture 
quite  fails  to  convey.  The  larger  part,  however,  has,  to  my 
mind,  too  much  restlessness  of  line  given  by  the  endless 
curves,  and  the  many  ugly  inappropriate  designs  necessi- 
tate awkward  and  often  faulty  construction,  and  make  it  a 
style  which  one,  so  far,  can  quite  easily  do  without.  The 
development  of  "  Art  Nouveau "  in  England  is  called 
*'  Quaint,"  and  is  often  worse  than  its  Continental  relation. 
In  America  the  best  development  of  all  has  appeared  in 
our  really  worthy  Craftsman  or  Mission  furniture.  It  is 
simple,  straightforward,  and  honest  in  construction,  and 
nothing  could  be  better  for  the  bungalow  type  of  house,  for 
certain  living-rooms,  dens,  and  libraries,  in  some  types  of 
country  house.  It  is  heavy  furniture  both  in  effect  and 
reality,  and  in  buying  it  one  should  be  careful  to  get  only 
the  best  kind,  for  there  are  several  grades.  The  best  makes, 
as  I  have  said,  have  real  worth  and  beauty  when  in  their  cor- 
rect surroundings,  and  with  appropriate  curtains  and  rugs 


The  touch  of  the  well-trained  craftsman  shows  in  this  fire-corner 


CRAFTSMAN  FURNITURE  161 

and  cushions  make  delightful  and  home-like  interiors.  The 
woodwork  must  harmonize  with  the  furniture,  and  there 
must  be  nothing  dainty  or  delicate  in  the  decoration  or  orna- 
ments. Plain  walls,  or  if  a  figured  paper  is  desired,  a  low 
toned  one  with  no  startling  design  to  it  should  be  chosen. 
There  are  some  good  paneled  effects,  and  leather  paper  is 
also  good  to  use,  while  dull  warm  gold  over  a  wainscot  is 
beautiful  in  certain  rooms. 

The  rich  dark  tones  of  Bokhara  rugs  go  beautifully  with 
Craftsman  furniture,  as  do  also  Khivas,  Kurdistans,  and 
Beluchistans.  There  are  many  makes  of  domestic  rugs 
wliich  are  also  appropriate. 

The  curtains  may  be  velours,  or  arras  cloth  or  heavy  linen, 
or  cretonne,  or  other  stuff ;  the  choice  is  wide,  and  a  couched 
or  stenciled  design  is  often  added.  The  cushions  should  be 
simple  in  shape  and  rich  in  color,  and  form  a  part  of  the 
color  scheme  of  the  room,  and  it  is  almost  needless  to  say 
they  should  not  be  pictorial.  The  lamps  and  ornaments 
should  be  brass  or  copper  or  pottery,  and  all  ornaments 
must  be  kept  in  key  and  scale ;  a  Dresden  clock, 
for  instance,  no  matter  how  lovely  it  is,  would  be  entirely 
out  of  place  in  such  a  room.  Books  there  should  be  in  abun- 
dance, and  also  magazines,  and  of  great  importance  is  an 
open  fire  for  winter  days. 


Country   Houses 


A  hall   to   conjure  with— although   a   Hepplewhite   or   Sheraton   chair   would   be 

more  in  keeping 


A  very  rare  block-front  chest  of  drawers  with  the  original  brasses 


Country  Houses 

THE  Country  House  is  a  comparatively  modern  idea, 
and  one  which  has  added  much  to  the  joy  of  hfe. 
There  are  all  kinds  and  conditions  of  them,  great  and 
small,  grand  and  simple,  and  each  is  a  joy  to  the  proud  pos- 
sessor. 

Life  was  such  a  turbulent  affair  in  the  Middle  Ages  that 
country  life  in  the  modern  sense  was  an  impossibility.  The 
chateaux  and  castles  and  large  manor-houses  were  strongly 
fortified,  and  there  were  inner  courts  for  exercise.  When 
war  became  the  exception  and  not  the  rule,  the  inherent  love 
in  all  human  beings  for  the  open  began  to  assert  itself,  and 
the  country  house  idea  began  to  grow. 

Italy  was  the  first  country  where  we  find  this  freedom  of 
attitude  exemplified  in  the  beautiful  Renaissance  villas  near 
Rome  and  Florence.  The  best  were  built  during  the  six- 
teenth century,  and  were  owned  by  the  great  Italian  families 
like  the  de  Medici  and  d'Este.  They  seem  more  like  places 
built  for  the  parade  and  show  of  life  than  homes,  but  the 
home  ideal  with  all  its  conveniences  was  another  outgrowth 
of  peace. 

The  plan  of  an  Italian  villa  is  very  interesting  to  study, 

165 


166        FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

to  see  how  every  advantage  was  taken  of  the  land,  how  the 
residence,  or  casino,  was  placed  in  regard  to  the  formal 
garden  and  the  view  over  the  valley,  for  they  were  usually  on 
a  hillside  and  the  slope  was  terraced,  how  the  statues  and 
fountains,  the  beautiful  ilex  and  cypress  and  orange  trees, 
the  box-edged  flower-beds  and  gravel  paths,  all  formed  a 
wonderful  setting  for  the  house,  and  together  made  a  perfect 
whole.  The  Italian  villa  was  not  necessarily  large,  in  fact 
the  Villa  Lante  contains  only  six  acres,  which  are  divided 
into  four  terraces,  the  house  being  on  the  second  and  built 
in  two  parts,  one  on  each  side.  Each  terrace  has  a  beautiful 
fountain,  with  a  cascade  connecting  those  on  the  fourth  and 
third.  This  villa  is  indeed,  an  example  of  taking  advantage 
of  a  fairly  small  space.  It  was  built  by  the  great  Vignola  in 
1547,  and  although  slightly  showing  the  wear  of  time,  has  all 
the  beauty  and  charm  and  romance  which  only  centuries  can 
give. 

The  Italian  villa  can  be  adapted  to  the  American  climate 
and  scenery  and  point  of  view,  but  it  must  be  done  by  one 
of  the  architects  who  have  made  a  deep  study  of  the  Italian 
Renaissance  so  the  true  feeling  will  be  kept.  There  are  some 
beautiful  examples  already  in  the  country. 

In  France,  the  chateaux  which  have  most  influenced  coun- 
try house  building  are  those  which  were  built  during  the 
sixteenth  century,  many  of  them  during  the  reign  of  Francis 
1st.     Among  the  number  are  Azay  le  Rideau,  Chenonceaux, 


COUNTRY  HOUSES  167 

and  Chaumont.  Blois  and  Amboise  are  also  absorbingly  in- 
teresting, but  belong  partly  to  an  earlier  time.  The  chateau 
region  in  Touraine  is  a  treasure  land  of  architectural  beauty. 
In  the  time  of  Louis  XIV  Le  Notre  changed  many  of  these, 
old  chateaux  from  their  fortified  state  to  the  more  open  form 
made  possible  by  a  peaceful  Hf e. 

We  turn  to  England  for  the  most  perfect  examples  of 
country  houses,  for  the  theory  of  country  hving  is  so  thor- 
oughly understood  there,  one  might  really  say  it  is  a  national 
institution.  Many  of  the  manor-houses,  both  great  and 
small,  are  beautiful  examples  of  Tudor  architecture,  which 
seems  especially  suited  to  their  setting  of  lovely  green  parks. 
The  smaller  country  house,  which  has  no  pretention  to  being 
a  show  place,  is  as  perfect  in  its  way.  The  English  love  for 
out-of-doors  makes  them  achieve  wonders  with  even  small 
gardens,  and  the  climate,  being  gentle,  helps  matters  im- 
mensely. 

In  America  we  are  taking  up  the  EngHsh  country  house 
ideal  more  and  more  and  adapting  it  to  our  own  needs.  The 
question  of  architecture  is  a  question  of  personal  choice  influ- 
enced by  climate,  and  there  are  now  numberless  charming 
houses  scattered  over  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land 
which  have  been  built  with  the  purpose  of  being  country 
homes.  They  are  not  for  summer  use  only,  but  all  the  year 
round  keep  their  hospitable  doors  open,  or  else  the  season  be- 
gins so  early  and  ends  so  late,  that,  with  the  holiday  time  be- 


168       FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

tween,  the  house  hardly  seems  closed  at  all.  It  is  this  atti- 
tude which  is  changing  country  house  architecture  to  a  great 
extent.  The  terraces  and  porches  and  gardens  and  glass- 
houses are  all  there,  but  the  house  itself  is  more  solidly  built 
and  is  prepared  to  stand  cold  weather. 

For  the  average  American  the  best  types  of  country  house 
to  choose  from  are  the  smaller  Tudor  manor-houses,  Italian 
villas,  Georgian  architecture  in  England,  and  our  own  Co- 
lonial style  which  of  course  was  founded  on  the  Georgian. 
In  the  south  and  southwestern  parts  of  this  country  a  modi- 
fied Spanish  type  may  be  used  in  place  of  Tudor,  which  does 
not  give  the  feeling  of  cool  spaces  so  necessary  in  hot  climates. 
The  bungalow  type  is  also  popular  in  the  South. 

There  are  many  architects  in  this  country  who  understand 
thoroughly  the  plan  and  spirit  of  Colonial  times,  and  who 
succeed  in  giving  to  the  comforts  of  modern  days  the  true 
stamp  of  the  eighteenth  century.  The  style  makes  most  de- 
lightful houses,  and  with  the  great  supply  of  appropriate 
furniture  from  which  to  choose,  it  would  be  hard  to  fail  in 
having  a  charming  whole. 

The  house  and  garden  should  be  planned  together  to  have 
the  best  effect.  Each  can  be  added  to  as  time  goes  on,  but 
when  a  plan  is  followed  there  is  a  look  of  belonging  to- 
gether which  adds  greatly  to  the  charm. 

In  an  all-the-year  country  house  a  vestibule  is  a  necessity 
as  much  as  in  a  town  house,  and  the  hall  should  be  treated 


Trowbridge  &  Livingston,  architects 


A  library  door  which  shows  how  those  who  understand  the  true  spirit 
of  the  Renaissance  make  use  of  it  in  modern  homes 


COUNTRY  HOUSES  169 

with  the  dignity  a  hall  deserves,  and  not  as  a  second  living- 
room.  In  many  English  houses  of  Tudor  days  the  stairs 
were  behind  a  carved  screen,  or  concealed  in  some  manner, 
which  made  it  possible  to  use  the  hall  as  a  gathering  place. 
Our  modern  hall  is  not  a  descendant  of  this  old  hall  of  a  past 
day  (the  living-room  is  much  more  so),  but  is  really  only  a 
passage,  often  raised  to  the  nth  power,  connecting  the  dif- 
ferent rooms  of  the  house,  and  should  be  treated  as  such. 
The  stairs  and  landing  and  vista  should  be  beautiful,  and 
the  furnishing  should  be  dignified  and  in  perfect  scale  with 
the  rest  of  the  house.  Marble  stairs  and  tapestry  and  old 
carved  furniture  and  beautiful  rugs,  or  the  simplest  pos- 
sible furniture,  may  be  used,  but  the  hall  should  have  an 
impersonally  hospitable  air,  one  which  gives  the  keynote  of 
the  house,  but  reserves  its  full  expression  until  the  privacy 
of  the  living-rooms  is  reached. 

The  average  country  house  is  neither  very  magnificent 
nor  very  simple,  but  strikes  the  happy  medium  and  achieves 
a  most  delightful  home-like  charm,  which  at  the  very  outset 
makes  life  seem  well  worth  living.  It  is  rarely  furnished 
in  a  period  style  throughout,  but  has  the  modern  air  of  com- 
fort which  good  taste  and  correct  feeling  give.  For  in- 
stance, the  hall  may  have  paneling  and  Chippendale  mir- 
ror, a  table,  and  chairs;  the  living-room  furnished  in  a  gen- 
eral Colonial  manner  mixed  with  some  comfortable  stuffed 
furniture,  but  not  over-stuffed,  lovely  chintz  or  silk  hang- 


170       FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

ings,  and  a  wide  fireplace;  the  morning-room  on  something 
the  same  plan,  but  a  little  less  formal;  and  the  drawing- 
room  a  little  more  so,  say  in  Adam  or  simple  Louis  XVI 
furniture.  The  library  should  have  plenty  of  comfortable 
sofas  and  chairs,  and  a  large  table  (it  is  hard  to  get  one  too 
large),  some  of  the  bookcases  should  be  built  in  to  form 
part  of  the  architectural  plan  of  the  room,  and  personally 
I  think  it  is  a  better  idea  to  have  all  the  space  intended  for 
bookcases  built  in  in  the  first  place,  as  this  insures  harmony 
of  plan.  Another  important  thing  in  a  library  is  to  have 
the  lights  precisely  right,  and  the  window-seats  and  the  fire- 
place should  be  all  that  their  names  imply  in  the  way  of 
added  charm  and  comfort  to  the  room.  The  dining-room 
should  be  bright  and  cheerful  and  in  harmony  with  the 
near-by  rooms.  A  breakfast-room  done  in  lacquer  is  very 
charming. 

The  bedrooms  should  be  light  and  airy,  and  so  planned 
that  the  beds  can  be  properly  placed.  They  may  be  fur- 
nished in  old  mahogany,  French  walnut  in  either  Louis  XV 
or  XVI  style,  or  in  carefully  chosen  Empire ;  painted  Adam 
furniture  is  also  lovely,  and  willow  furniture  makes  a  fresh 
and  attractive  room.  The  curtains  should  be  hung  so  they 
can  be  drawn  at  night  if  desired,  and  the  material  should 
be  chosen  to  harmonize  in  design  with  the  room. 

The  children's  rooms  should  be  sunny  and  bright  and 
furnished   according  to  their  special  tastes,   which  if  too* 


COUNTRY  HOUSES  171 

astounding,  as  sometimes  happens,  can  be  tactfully  guided 
into  safe  channels. 

The  servants  should  be  given  separate  bedrooms,  a  bath- 
room, and  a  comfortable  sitting-room  beside  their  dining- 
room.  Making  them  comfortable  seems  a  simple  way  of 
solving  the  servant  question. 

The  bungalow  type  of  small  country  house  is  usually  very 
simply  furnished,  and  the  best  type  of  Mission  furniture 
or  willow  is  especially  well  suited  to  it.  Bungalows  are 
growing  more  and  more  in  favor,  and,  although  they  orig- 
inated in  America  in  the  West,  we  find  delightful  ones  every- 
where, on  the  Maine  coast  and  in  the  woods  and  mountains. 
They  are  a  tremendous  advance  over  the  small  and  elaborate 
house  of  a  few  years  ago. 

Cretonne  and  chintz  can  be  used  in  all  the  rooms  of  a 
country  house  with  perfect  propriety,  and  is  a  really  lovely 
method  of  furnishing,  as  it  is  fresh  and  washable,  and  comes 
in  all  gradations  of  price.  Willow  furniture  with  cretonne 
cushions  makes  a  pleasant  variety  with  mahogany  in  simple 
rooms. 

Fresh  air  and  sunlight,  lovely  vistas  through  doors  and 
windows  of  the  garden  beyond,  cool  and  comfortable  rooms 
furnished  appropriately,  and  with  an  atmosphere  about  them 
which  expresses  a  hospitable  and  charming  home  spirit,  is 
the  ideal  standard  for  a  country  house. 


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The  Nursery  and  Play-room 


The  Nursery  and  Play-room 

WE  "^Kould  be  thankful  that  the  old  idea  of  a  nursery 
has  passed  away  and  instead  of  the  dreary  and 
rather  shabby  room  has  come  the  charming  mod- 
ern nursery  with  its  special  furniture  and  papers,  its  common 
sense  and  sanitary  wisdom  and  its  regard  for  the  childish 
point  of  view.  The  influence  of  surroundings  during  the 
formative  years  of  childhood  has  a  deal  to  do  with  the  child's 
future  attitude  toward  life,  and  now  that  parents  realize  this 
more,  the  ideal  nursery  has  simplicity,  charm  and  artistic 
merit,  all  suited  to  the  needs  of  its  romping  inhabitants. 

The  wall-papers  for  nurseries  are  especially  attractive 
with  their  gay  friezes  of  wonderful  fairy-tale  people.  Mother 
Goose,  Noah's  Ark  and  happy  little  children  playing  among 
the  flowers.  Some  of  the  designs  come  in  sets  of  four  panels 
that  can  be  framed  if  desired.  A  Noah's  Ark  frieze  with  the 
animals  marching  two  by  two  under  the  watchful  eyes  of  the 
Noah  family,  Mdth  an  ark  and  stiff  little  Noah's  Ark  trees, 
will  give  endless  pleasure  if  placed  about  three  feet  from  the 
floor  where  small  tots  can  take  in  its  charm.  If  placed  too 
high,  it  is  very  often  not  noticed  at  all.  Some  of  the  most 
attractive  nurseries  have  painted  walls  with  special  designs 
stenciled  on  them. 

175 


176        FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

If  any  one  of  these  friezes  is  placed  above  a  simple  wain- 
scot, the  effect  is  charming.     The  paper  for  nurseries  is 
usually  waterproof,  for  a  nursery  must  be  absolutely  spick 
and  span.     Another  thing  that  gives  much  pleasure  in  aj 
nursery  is  id  build  on  one  side  of  the  room  a  platform  about 
a  yard  wide  and  six  inches  high,  and  cover  it  with  cushions. 
The  furniture  in  a  day  nursery  should  consist  of  a  toy 
cupboard  stained  to  match  the  color  scheme  of  the  room  and 
large  enough  for  each  child  to  have  his  own  special  compart- 
ment in  it.     If  the  children's  initials  are  painted  or  burned 
on  the  doors,  it  gives  an  added  feeling  of  pride  in  keeping 
the  toys  in  order.     There  are  many  designs  of  small  tables 
and  chairs  made  with  good  lines,  and  the  wicker  ones  with 
gay  cretonne  cushions  are  very  attractive.     The  tables  and 
chairs  should  not  have  sharp  corners  and  should  be  heavy 
enough  not  to  tip  over  easily.     There  should  be  a  bookcase 
for  favorite  picture-books.     Besides  the  special  china  for  the 
children's  own  meals  there  should  be  a  set  of  play  china  for 
doll's  parties.     A  sand  table,  with  a  lump  of  clay  for  model- 
ing, a  blackboard  and,  in  the  spring,  window-boxes  where 
the  children  can  plant  seeds,  will  all  add  vastly  to  the  joy  of 
life. 

And  do  not  forget  a  comfortable  chair  for  the  nurse-maid. 
White  muslin  curtains  with  side  hangings  of  washable  chintz 
or  linen  or  some  special  nursery  design  in  cretonne  should 
hang  to  the  sill. 


THE  NURSERY  AND  PLAY-ROOM  177 

The  colors  in  both  day  and  night  nurseries  should  be  soft 
and  cheerful,  and  the  color  scheme  as  carefully  thought  out 
as  for  the  rest  of  the  house.  Both  rooms  should  be  on  the 
sunny  side  of  the  house,  and  far  enough  away  from  the  fam- 
ily living-room  to  avoid  any  one's  being  disturbed  when 
armies  charge  up  and  down  the  play-room  battle-ground  or 
Indians  start  out  on  the  warpath. 

The  best  floor  covering  for  a  day  nursery  is  plain  linoleum, 
as  it  is  not  dangerously  slippery  and  is  easily  kept  clean. 
If  the  floor  is  hard  wood,  it  must  not  have  a  slippery  wax 
finish.  It  will  also  save  tumbles  if  the  day  nursery  has  no 
rugs,  but  the  night  nursery  ought  to  have  one  large  one  or 
several  small  ones  by  the  beds  and  in  front  of  the  open  fire. 
Washable  cotton  rugs  are  best  to  use  for  this  purpose. 

When  children  are  very  small,  it  is  necessary  to  have  sides 
to  the  beds  to  keep  them  from  falling  out.  The  beds  should 
be  placed  so  that  the  light  does  not  shine  directly  in  the  chil- 
dren's eyes  in  the  morning,  and  there  should  be  plenty  of 
fresh  air.  The  rest  of  the  night  nursery  furniture  should 
consist  of  a  dressing-table,  a  chest  of  drawers,  a  night  table 
and  some  chairs.  There  should  be  a  few  pictures  on  the 
walls  hung  low,  and  beautiful  and  interesting  in  subjects 
and  treatment.     The  fire  should  be  well  screened. 

Pictures  like  the  "  Songs  of  Childhood,"  for  instance, 
would  be  charming  simply  framed.  If  there  is  only  one 
nursery  for  both  day  and  night  use,  the  room  should  be  deco- 


178        FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

rated  as  a  day  nursery  and  the  bed-cover  made  of  white 
dimity  with  a  border  of  the  curtain  stuff  or  made  entirely 
of  it. 


Curtains 


Curtains 

THE  modern  window,  with  its  huge  panes  of  glass  and 
simple  framework,  makes  an  insistent  demand  for  cur- 
I  tains.     Without  curtains  windows  of  this  kind  give 

a  blank,  staring  appearance  to  the  room  and  also  a  sense  of 
insecurity  in  having  so  many  holes  in  the  walls.  The  beau- 
tiful windows  of  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries 
in  Italy,  England  and  France,  give  no  such  feeling  of  incom- 
pleteness, for  their  well-carved  frames,  and  over-windows, 
and  their  small  panes  of  glass,  were  important  parts  of  the 
decorative  scheme.  Windows  and  doors  were  more  than 
mere  openings  in  those  days,  but  things  have  changed,  and 
the  hard  lines  of  our  perfectly  useful  windows  get  on  our 
nerves  if  we  do  not  soften  them  with  drapery.  In  that  hope- 
less time  in  the  last  century  called  "  Early  Victorian,"  when 
black  walnut  reigned  supreme,  the  curtains  were  as  terrify- 
ing as  the  curves  of  the  furniture  and  the  colors  of  the 
carpets.  Luckily  most  of  us  know  only  from  pictures  what 
that  time  was,  but  we  all  have  seen  enough  remnants  of  its 
past  glories  to  be  thankful  for  modern  ways  and  days.  The 
over-draped,  stuffy,  upholstered  nightmares  have  entirely 
disappeared,  and  in  their  place  have  come  curtains  of  a  high 

181 


182       FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

standard  of  beauty  and  practicality  —  simple,  appropriate, 
and  serving  the  ends  they  were  intended  for. 

The  effect  of  curtains  must  be  taken  into  account  from 
both  the  outside  and  the  inside  of  the  house.  The  outside 
view  should  show  a  general  similarity  of  appearance  in  the 
windows  of  each  story,  in  the  manner  of  hanging  the  curtains 
and  also  of  material.  The  shades  throughout  the  house 
should  be  of  the  same  color,  and  if  a  different  color  is  needed 
inside  for  the  sake  of  the  color  scheme,  either  two  shades 
should  be  used  or  they  should  be  the  double-faced  kind. 
Shades  should  also  be  kept  drawn  down  to  the  same  line,  or 
else  be  rolled  up  out  of  sight,  for  there  is  nothing  that  gives 
a  more  ill-kept  look  to  a  house  than  having  the  shades  and 
curtains  at  any  haphazard  height  or  angle. 

And  now  to  "  return  to  our  muttons."  The  average  win- 
dow needs  two  sets  of  curtains  and  a  shade.  Sometimes  a 
thin  net  or  lace  curtain,  a  "  bonne  femme"  is  hung  close  to 
the  glass,  but  this  is  usual  only  in  cities  where  privacy  has  to 
be  maintained  by  main  force,  or  where  the  curtains  of  a  floor 
differ  greatly.  Thin  curtains  in  combination  with  side  cur- 
tains of  some  thicker  material  are  most  often  used. 

Curtains  either  make  or  mar  a  room,  and  they  should  be 
carefully  planned  to  make  it  a  perfect  whole.  They  must 
be  so  convincingly  right  that  one  only  thinks  at  first  how 
restful  and  pleasant  and  charming  the  whole  room  is;  the 
details  come  later.     When  curtains  stand  out  and  astound 


CURTAINS  183 

one,  they  are  wrong.  It  is  not  upholstery  one  is  trying  to 
display,  but  to  make  a  perfect  background  for  one's  furni- 
ture, one's  pictures  and  one's  friends. 

There  are  so  many  materials  to  choose  from  that  all  tastes 
and  purses  can  be  suited;  nets,  thin  silk  and  gauzes; 
scrims  and  batistes;  cotton  and  silk  crepes,  muslin  or  dotted 
Swiss,  cheesecloth,  soleil  cloth,  madras,  and  a  host  of  other 
fascinating  fabrics  which  may  be  used  in  any  room  of  the 
house.  The  ready-made  curtains  are  also  charming.  There 
are  muslin  curtains  with  applique  borders  cut  from  flowered 
cretonne;  sometimes  the  cretonne  is  applique  on  net  wliich  is 
let  into  the  curtain  with  a  four-inch  hem  at  the  bottom  and 
sides.  A  simpler  style  has  a  band  of  flowered  muslin  sewed 
on  the  white  muslin,  or  used  as  a  ruffle.  It  is  also  added  to 
the  valance.  There  are  many  kinds  of  net  and  lace  cur- 
tains ready  for  use  that  will  harmonize  with  any  kind  of 
room.  Some  of  the  expensive  ones  are  really  beautiful  ex- 
amples of  needlecraft,  with  lace  medallions  and  insertions 
and  embroidery  stitches. 

When  it  comes  to  the  question  of  side  curtains  the  supply 
to  choose  from  is  almost  unlimited,  and  this  great  supply 
forms  the  bog  in  which  so  many  are  lost.  A  thing  may  be 
beautiful  in  itself  and  yet  cause  woe  and  havoc  in  an  other- 
wise charming  room.  There  are  linens  of  all  prices,  and 
cretonnes,  both  the  inexpensive  kind  and  the  wonderful 
shadow  ones;  there  are  silks  and  velvets  and  velours,  aurora 


184       FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

cloth,  cotton  crepe  and  arras  cloth,  and  a  thousand  other 
beautiful  stuffs  that  are  cheap  or  medium-priced  or  expen- 
sive, whose  names  only  the  shopman  knows,  but  which  win 
our  admiration  from  afar.  The  curtains  for  a  country  house 
are  usually  of  less  valuable  materials  than  those  for  a  town 
house,  and  this  is  as  it  should  be,  for  winter  life  is  usually 
more  formal  than  summer  life.  Nothing  can  be  prettier, 
however,  for  a  country  house  than  cretonne.  It  is  fresh  and 
dainty  and  gives  a  cool  and  delightful  appearance  to  a  room. 
Among  the  many  designs  there  are  some  for  every  style  of 
decoration. 

The  height  and  size  of  a  room  must  be  taken  into  account 
in  hanging  curtains,  for  with  their  aid,  and  also  that  of  wall- 
paper, we  can  often  change  a  room  of  bad  proportions  to  one 
of  seemingly  good  ones.  If  a  room  is  very  low,  a  stripe 
more  or  less  marked  in  the  design,  and  the  curtains  straight 
to  the  floor,  will  make  it  seem  higher.  A  high  room  may  have 
the  curtains  reach  only  to  the  sills  with  a  valance  across  the 
top.  This  style  may  be  used  in  a  fairly  low  room  if  the 
curtain  material  is  chosen  with  discretion  and  is  not  of  a 
marked  design.  If  the  windows  are  narrow  they  can  be 
made  to  seem  wider  by  having  the  rod  for  the  side  curtains 
extend  about  eight  inches  on  each  side  of  the  window,  and 
the  curtain  cover  the  frame  and  a  part  of  the  wall.  This 
leaves  all  the  window  for  light  and  air.  A  valance  connect- 
ing the  side  curtains  and  covering  the  top  of  the  net  curtains 


The  dignity  of  the  shapcW  \  alancc  is  required  in  formal  rooms 


CURTAINS  185 

will  also  make  the  window  seem  broader.     A  group  of  three 
windows  can  be  treated  as  one  by  using  only;  one  pair  of  side 
curtains  with  a  connecting  ruffle,  and  a  pair  of  net  curtains 
at  each  window.     Curtains  may  hang  in  straight  lines  or  be 
simply  looped  back,  but  fancy  festooning  is  not  permissible. 
There  is  another  attractive  method  of  dividing  the  curtains 
in  halves,  the  upper  sections  to  hang  so  they  just  cover  the 
brass  rod  for  the  lower  sections,  which  are  pushed  back  at 
the  sides.     These  lower  sections  may  have  the  rod  on  which 
they  are  run  fastened  to  the  window-sash  if  one  wishes. 
They  will  then  go  up  with  the  window  and  of  course  keep 
clean  much  longer,  but  to  my  mind  it  is  not  so  alluring  as  a 
gently  blowing  curtain  on  a  hot  day.     I  have  seen  a  whole 
house  curtained  most  charmingly  in  this  manner,  with  cur- 
tains of  unbleached  muslin  edged  with  a  narrow  little  ruffle.  . 
They  hung  close  to  the  glass  and  reached  just  to  the  sill  with 
the  lower  part  pushed  back  at  the  sides.     The  outside  view 
was  most  attractive,  and  the  inside  curtains  varied  according 
to  the  needs  of  each  room. 

Casement  windows  should  have  the  muslin  curtains  drawn 
back  with  a  cord  or  a  muslin  band,  and  the  side  curtains 
should  hang  straight,  with  a  little  top  ruffle ;  if  the  windows 
open  into  the  room  the  curtains  may  be  hung  on  the  frames. 
The  muslin  curtains  may  be  left  out  entirely  if  one  wishes. 
Net  curtains  on  French  doors  should  be  run  on  small  brass 
rods  at  top  and  bottom,  and  the  heavy  curtains  that  are 


186        FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

drawn  together  at  night  for  privacy's  sake  should  be  so  hung 
that  they  will  not  interfere  with  the  opening  of  the  door. 
There  should  be  plenty  of  room  under  all  ruffles  or  shaped 
valances  where  the  curtains  are  to  be  drawn  to  allow  for  easy 
working  of  the  cords,  otherwise  tempers  are  liable  to  be  sud- 
denly lost. 

All  windows  over  eighteen  inches  wide  need  two  curtains, 
and  the  average  allowance  of  fullness  is  at  least  twice  the 
width  of  the  window  for  net  and  any  very  soft  material, 
while  once  and  a  half  is  usually  enough  for  material  with 
more  body.  Great  care  must  be  taken  to  measure  curtains 
correctly  and  have  them  cut  evenly.  It  is  also  a  good  plan 
to  allow  for  extra  length,  which  can  be  folded  into  the  top 
hem  and  will  not  show,  but  will  allow  for  shrinking. 

Stenciling  can  be  very  attractively  used  for  curtains  and 
portieres  for  country  houses.  Cheesecloth,  scrim,  aurora 
cloth,  pongee,  linen,  arid  velours,  are  a  few  of  the  materials 
that  can  be  used.  The  design  and  kind  used  in  a  room  should 
be  chosen  with  due  regard  to  its  suitability.  A  Louis  XVI 
room  could  not  possibly  have  arras  cloth  used  in  it,  while  it 
would  be  charming  and  appropriate  in  a  modern  bungalow. 
Arras  cloth  with  an  applique  design  of  linen  couched  on  it 
makes  beautiful  curtains  and  portieres  to  go  with  the  Mis- 
sion or  Craftsman  furniture. 

There  is  an  old  farmhouse  on  Long  Island  that  has  been 
made  over  into  a  most  dehghtful  country  house,  and  the 


CURTAINS  187 

furnishing  throughout  is  consistent  and  charming.  The 
curtains  are  reproductions  of  old  designs  in  chintz  and  cre- 
tonne. The  hving-room,  with  its  white  paneHng  to  the  ceil- 
ing, its  wide  fireplace,  old  mahogany  furniture,  and  curtains 
gay  with  parrots  and  flowers,  hanging  over  cool  white  mus- 
lin, is  a  room  to  conjure  with. 

In  town  houses  the  curtains  and  hangings  must  also  har- 
monize with  the  style  of  furnishing.  When  the  windows  are 
hung  with  soft  colored  brocade,  the  portieres  are  usually 
beautiful  tapestry  or  rich  toned  velvets,  and  care  is  always 
taken  to  have  the  balance  of  color  kept  and  the  color  values 
correct.  There  are  silks  and  damasks  and  velvets,  and  many 
lesser  stuiFs,  made  for  all  the  period  styles,  whether  carried 
out  simply  or  elaborately,  and  it  is  the  art  of  getting  the 
suitable  ones  for  the  different  rooms  which  gives  the  air  of 
harmony,  beauty,  and  restfulness,  for  which  the  word  home 
stands. 

In  hanging  these  more  formal  curtains  the  shaped  valance 
is  usually  used  with  the  curtains  hanging  straight  at  the  sides 
of  the  window,  so  they  can  be  drawn  together  at  night.  The 
cords  and  pulleys  should  always  be  in  perfect  working  order. 
Another  method  is  to  have  the  curtains  simply  parted  in  the 
center,  either  with  a  valance  or  without,  and  drawn  back  at 
the  sides  with  heavy  cords  and  tassels,  or  bands  of  the  stuff. 
If  a  draped  effect  is  desired  great  care  must  be  taken  not  to 
have  it  too  elaborate. 


188        FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

If  the  walls  of  a  room  are  plain  in  color  one  may  have 
either  plain  or  figured  hangings,  but  if  the  wall  covering  is 
figured  it  gives  a  feeling  of  unrest  if  the  curtains  are  also 
fiffured.     Sometimes  one  sees  bedrooms  and  small  boudoirs 

o 

where  the  walls  and  curtains  show  the  same  design,  but  it 
must  be  done  with  skill,  or  disaster  is  sure  to  follow. 

Plain  casement  cloth  or  the  different  "  Sunfast "  fabrics 
are  attractive  with  plain  or  figured  papers,  especially  in  bed- 
rooms of  country  houses. 

If  one  has  to  live  in  the  town  house  through  the  summer 
do  not  make  the  fatal  mistake  of  taking  down  the  curtains 
and  living  in  bare  discomfort  during  the  hot  season.  If  the 
curtains  are  too  handsome  to  be  kept  up,  buy  a  second  set  of 
inexpensive  ones  that  can  be  washed  without  injury.  It  is 
better  that  they  should  stop  the  dust,  and  then  go  into  the 
tub,  than  that  one's  lungs  should  collect  it  all.  Curtains  are 
useful  as  well  as  ornamental,  and  a  house  without  them  is  as 
dreary  as  breakfast  without  coffee. 


Rugs 


Rugs 

IN  solving  the  rug  problem  for  our  homes  one  must  look 
the  matter  squarely  in  the  face  and  decide  how  far  one 
can  wander  in  the  Oriental  field,  for  where  Oriental  rugs 
are,  there  is  beauty  also;  they  are  works  of  art,  things  to  be 
treasured  and  to  be  thankful  for.  Machinery  has  made 
many  things  possible  for  us,  it  has  simplified,  and  also  com- 
plicated life,  it  has  made  the  East  and  West,  the  North  and 
South,  close  neighbors,  it  has  harnessed  the  air  and  electric- 
ity, but  for  all  its  wonder  it  is  dependent  on  the  brain  and 
hands  of  man.  There  is  no  machine  in  all  the  world,  how- 
ever, that  has  made  anything  so  beautiful  as  a  Persian  rug, 
fashioned  by  the  ten  clever  fingers  of  an  Oriental  directed  by 
his  patient  and  beauty-loving  soul  and  mind. 

One  of  the  charms  of  rug  lore  is  the  feeling  that  back  of 
a  rug  stands  a  personality,  the  history  of  a  family,  a  tribe,  a 
whole  people,  stretching  far  away  into  the  past.  The  wild 
and  warlike  tribes  of  the  frontier,  as  well  as  the  more  peace- 
ful dwellers  of  the  towns,  had  their  special  colors  and  pat- 
terns which  descended  from  generation  to  generation.  The 
wandering  tribes  of  Asia  have,  since  the  earliest  times,  used 
rugs  for  all  their  household  furnishings.  They  used  them 
for  curtains,  for  seats  and  beds,  and  saddle  coverings,  for 

191 


192        FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

prayer  rugs  and  funeral  rugs,  and  as  seats  of  honor.  The 
antique  Hamadan  rugs  were  "  hearth  "  or  *'  home  "  rugs  and 
were  looked  upon  as  sanctuary  by  the  tribe.  If  a  fugitive 
once  reached  the  sheik's  tent  and  touched  the  rug  the  tribe 
was  in  honor  bound  to  protect  him. 

The  looms  upon  which  the  rugs  were  woven  were,  and  still 
are,  of  the  rudest  construction,  uprights  supporting  two  hori- 
zontal poles  on  which  the  warp  threads  were  stretched.  In 
front  of  these  looms  sat  the  women  tying  in  the  knots  one  by 
one,  slowly  developing  a  work  of  art.  In  some  districts  a 
simple  musical  chant  is  sung  to  help  the  weavers  tie  the  knots, 
and  the  fineness  of  the  rug  depends  upon  the  number  of 
knots  in  a  square  inch,  a  coarse  Turkish  rug  having  as  few  as 
thirty  or  forty,  and  a  fine  Persian  as  many  as  four  or  five 
hundred  to  the  square  inch.  Rugs  are  still  made  in  the  old 
way.  Children  of  six  and  seven  begin  to  learn  by  tying  in 
solid  colors,  and  slowly  advance  until  they  can  be  trusted 
with  the  designs,  and  then  a  whole  rug.  There  are  two 
kinds  of  knot  used  —  the  Senna  or  Persian,  and  the  Ghiordes 
or  Turkish.  The  Senna  has  a  thread  of  the  pile  coming  up 
between  every  warp  thread,  and  makes  a  very  close  and  fine 
pile  which  can  be  closely  trimmed,  and  shows  the  design  until 
almost  the  last  thread  is  gone.  The  Ghiordes  knot  has  the 
pile  thread  come  up  between  every  two  threads  of  the  warp, 
which  makes  a  coarser  rug  and  necessitates  a  longer  pile  to 
cover  the  warp.     This  longer  pile,  becoming  untwisted,  gives 


A   rare    antique    Persian    rug-,    depicting    the    Judgment    of    Solomon.      It    came 
originally  trom  the  Shah's  palace,  measures  about  6  x  9  f t.  and  is  valued  at  $3,500 


■•■.•'■•■■  -  'zii  '  ^.  '  .tJi     /li'  ■  /ji     "..i     ii\'     Ail    iiN     ii:^  '  zii     /j     1^ 


-   X 


0     ■  w^'f^^ 


_1J    tuO 


RUGS  193 

a  very  beautiful  silky  sheen  to  some  Turkish  rugs.  For  some 
reason  the  finest  wool  is  found  on  the  sheep  and  goats  of 
Turkey  and  Persia  and  the  country  around  the  Caspian  Sea. 
It  is  collected  at  certain  times  of  the  year,  and  washed  and 
washed  in  soft  water,  then  covered  with  flour  paste  and  then 
washed  again.  It  is  then  dried  in  the  sun  and  wind,  picked 
apart,  and  then  spun.  The  skeins  are  again  washed  and 
soaked  in  a  mordant  and  dyed  with  vegetable  dyes.  These 
dyes  are  made  with  great  care,  and  certain  families  had  the 
secret  of  certain  colors,  passing  it  down  as  a  valued  posses- 
sion. It  was  a  great  honor  to  be  a  famous  dyer.  It  is  an 
interesting  fact  that  in  antique  Persian  rugs  where  black  was 
used  to  outline  the  design  it  has  entirely  disappeared,  letting 
the  warp  show  in  its  place.  The  other  colors  only  grow  more 
beautiful  with  the  softening  effect  of  time. 

The  use  of  aniline  dyes  is  unfortunately  creeping  into 
many  rug  districts,  but  is  strictly  forbidden  in  Persia  and 
Smyrna,  and  is  punishable  with  a  heavy  fine.  Russia  has 
not  been  so  particular  in  her  new  possessions,  and  one  thinks 
with  dread  of  the  harm  she  may  do  in  Persia. 

A  well  and  properly  washed  rug,  and  a  chemically  washed 
rug,  are  two  quite  diiFerent  propositions.  There  is  a  great 
love  in  the  Orient  for  strong  colors,  and  many  of  the  most 
beautiful  soft  toned  antique  rugs  were  probably  very  bright, 
indeed,  in  the  days  of  their  youth.  The  vegetable  dyes  in 
use  are  beautiful,  but  bright  colors,  and  a  new  rug  is  often 


194        FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

too  vivid  for  Western  taste,  so  it  has  to  be  washed  to  soften 
and  tone  it  to  the  required  standard.  Trustworthy  dealers 
have  a  process  by  which  this  is  done  without  injury  to  the 
rug.  It  simply  washes  out  all  the  superfluous  dye,  and  leaves 
fast  colors,  without  injuring  the  life  or  elasticity  of  the  wool. 
There  are  not  many  good  modern  rugs  which  have  not  been 
washed,  but  it  is  safe  to  buy  them  only  of  reputable  dealers 
whose  methods  can  be  trusted.  If  an  antique  rug  is  washed 
it  loses  a  great  part  of  its  value. 

The  chemically  washed  rug  is  put  upon  the  market  for  the 
simple  reason  of  deceiving  the  buyer.  If  it  is  made  to  look 
old  and  faded  enough  it  can  be  sold  to  the  unwary  as  an 
antique  at  a  greatly  advanced  price.  A  rug  chemically 
"  washed  "  or  "  doctored  "  is  first  stretched  on  an  inclined 
platform  and  a  solution  of  chlorine  water  is  allowed  to  trickle 
over  it.  When  the  colors  are  sufficiently  subdued  the  rug  is 
dampened  with  glycerine  and  water  and  ironed  with  hot  irons 
to  give  it  luster.  Some  say  that  rugs  are  buried  and  dragged 
in  the  dirt  to  give  them  the  required  look  of  age.  There  is 
a  harsh  feeling  to  a  chemically  treated  rug  and  the  back  is 
much  brighter  in  color  than  the  pile,  while  the  threads  are 
also  brighter  at  the  base  than  on  the  surface  and  often  a 
different  color,  as  aniline  dyes  seem  to  separate  as  they 
change.  Green,  being  made  from  yellow  and  blue,  will  have 
the  blue  depart  and  leave  the  yellow  behind,  for  instance. 
Vegetable  dyes  fade  to  a  lighter  shade  of  the  same  color. 


RUGS  195 

A  chemically  washed  rug  has  lost  many  years  of  its  life. 

One  must  be  on  one's  guard  and  buy  only  from  trusted 
dealers  whose  reputations  stand  back  of  their  wares,  and  who 
will  not  ask  you  to  pay  for  an  antique'  and  sell  you  a  modern 
badly  washed  rug.  The  look  of  age  is  beautiful,  but  antiques 
are  rare,  and  manufactured  age  is  often  only  a  waste  of 
money.  To  be  an  antique,  a  rug  must  be  at  least  fifty  years 
old,  for  it  takes  about  that  length  of  time  to  soften  and  tone 
it  to  its  full  beauty.  The  gems  of  the  sixteenth  and  seven- 
teenth centuries  are  almost  impossible  to  find  and  are  worthy 
of  a  place  in  museums. 

Both  Turks  and  Persians  are  Mohammedans,  but  belong 
to  different  branches  of  the  faith.  The  Turks  are  Sun- 
nites,  and  believe  that  if  they  make  anything  in  the  form  of 
a  living  creature  they  will  have  to  give  it  their  soul  on  the 
day  of  Judgment,  hence  their  designs  are  geometrical.  The 
Persians,  who  are  of  the  more  liberal  Shiite  sect,  are  troubled 
by  no  such  ideas,  and  birds  and  beasts  and  beautiful  floral 
forms  appear  in  their  designs.  The  wonderful  old  and  very 
rare  royal  hunting  rugs  show  most  realistic  scenes  of  the 
chase  in  full  swing. 

It  is  interesting  to  try  to  follow  out  the  meaning  of  the 
different  designs.  Many,  of  course,  are  quite  hidden  from 
us,  but  from  the  rest  we  can  piece  together  much  of  deep  in- 
terest. A  Persian  rug  is  often  supposed  to  represent  a 
garden.     The  loop,  or  pear,  or  palm  design,  has  several 


196       FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

meanings,  and  one  may  take  one's  choice.  Some  say  it  is 
from  the  loop  of  the  sacred  river  of  India  as  it  is  seen  wind- 
ing its  glittering  way  across  the  plain,  and  this  would  explain 
why  it  is  so  often  filled  with  floral  forms ;  some  say  it  is  from 
the  palm;  others  say  it  originated  with  the  fire- worshipers 
and  represents  a  flame.  It  is  the  beautiful  form  seen  on  old 
cashmere  shawls.  To  follow  out  a  little  more  of  the  symbol- 
ism found  in  rugs  we  find  that  the  rosette,  used  in  borders 
and  to  form  other  designs,  is  based  on  a  wild  flower,  which  we 
call  the  Star  of  Bethlehem.  The  cypress  tree  was  used  on 
funeral  rugs,  and  lamps  and  animals  and  flowers  are  often 
conventionalized  so  successfully  that  they  form  the  most  sat- 
isfactory designs.  The  swastika,  common  to  nearly  all  the 
world,  means  health,  happiness  and  good  luck.  The  circle 
means  eternity;  a  six-pointed  star  means  Allah,  a  meander- 
ing line  or  border  means  the  continuity  of  life ;  and  when  a 
bead  or  tassel  is  found  fastened  into  the  center  or  border  it 
is  to  keep  ofl*  the  evil  eye;  and  so  it  goes  on,  making  a  rug 
a  book,  or  a  page  from  the  worker's  life  and  belief.  The 
whole  rug  is  supposed  to  represent  eternity,  and  that  is  why 
we  so  seldom  find  the  old  patterns  with  a  plain  field, — for  to 
make  all  eternity  a  blank  would  be  indeed  a  dreary  thing, 
and  the  weaver  scattered  flowers  and  figures  over  it  to  insure 
happiness. 

One  of  the  most  beautiful  rugs  in  the  world  is  the  sacred 
carpet  of  Ardebil,  now  at  the  South  Kensington  Museum. 


RUGS  197 

It  is  34'6''xl7'6^'^  and  its  soft  and  rich  tones  of  blue  and  yel- 
low ivory  are  used  in  a  beautiful  floral  design,  while  great  in- 
terest is  added  to  it  by  the  inscription  in  a  medallion  in  the 
border:  "  I  have  no  refuge  in  the  world  other  than  thy 
threshold.  My  head  has  no  protection  other  than  this  porch 
way.  The  work  of  the  slave  of  this  holy  place,  Maksond  of 
Kashan,  in  the  year  of  the  Hegira  946."  (A.D.  1540.)  This 
rug  was  nearly  the  cause  of  a  rupture  between  England  and 
Persia  in  the  days  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  for  the  ambassador 
she  sent  considered  himself  insulted  when  he  was  asked  to 
wear  slippers  over  his  shoes  when  he  stepped  upon  its  sacred 
and  beautiful  surface. 

Persian  rugs  are  divided  into  several  sections,  according  to 
the  neighborhood  in  which  they  are  made  —  Kirman  and 
Kirmanshah,  Tabriz,  Senna,  Khorassan,  Meshed,  Shiraz, 
Saraband,  Gorevari,  Hamadan,  and  others. 

Kirmanshah  and  Kirman  are  beautiful  in  texture  with  a 
soft  and  mellow  richness  of  color,  and  a  delicacy  and  sureness 
of  design  which  makes  them  among  the  most  perfect  rugs 
made.  There  is  usually  a  medallion  center  surrounded  by  a 
field  of  ivory,  covered  with  lovely  floral  designs  in  soft  pinks 
and  greens  and  blues.  There  are  several  borders  all  beauti- 
fully shaded.  These  rugs  come  in  all  sizes,  from  small  mats 
to  large  carpet  size,  and  are  especially  suited  to  drawing- 
rooms  and  reception-rooms  where  French  or  Georgian  fur- 
niture is  used. 


198        FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

The  modern  Tabriz  rug  is  not  so  beautiful  as  the  Kirman- 
shah  or  Khorassan  as  it  does  not  keep  to  the  old  standards 
either  in  color  or  design,  but  shows  a  strong  European  influ- 
ence. The  texture  is  firm  and  they  are  closely  clipped  and 
seldom  show  any  luster.  They  come  in  all  sizes,  and  one  can 
have  any  design  or  color  scheme  carried  out  to  order.  An 
antique  Tabriz  rug  has  great  beauty,  and  shows  the  graceful 
floral  design  which  is  characteristic  of  Persia. 

Senna  rugs  are  among  the  finest  antique  or  modern  rugs 
made,  and  come  in  only  a  few  designs,  either  the  all-over 
pattern  of  the  palm  or  "  fish  "  design;  or  one  with  the  center 
divided  into  medallions.  There  are  usually  three  borders, 
the  center  one  wider  than  the  others.  The  colors  are  soft  and 
subdued,  and  beautifully  blended:  reds,  yellows,  blues,  pink, 
ivory,  green.  The  pile  is  closely  clipped  and  is  of  silky  wool. 
They  are  rarely  larger  than  5x8. 

Khorassan  rugs  bear  all  the  marks  of  the  highest  Persian 
ideal.  The  wool  is  very  fine  and  silky,  the  soft  rich  colors 
of  old  blue  and  a  wonderful  soft  red,  are  used  chiefly  as  back- 
ground colors  in  the  field  on  which  the  floral  designs  are 
placed.  Often  a  medallion  is  placed  on  a  plain  field  with 
the  four  corners  cut  off,  and  again  the  floral  design  will  cover 
the  whole  field.  There  is  apt  to  be  a  slight  unevenness  in  the 
clipping,  causing  the  pattern  to  stand  out  a  little  more  dis- 
tinctly. The  sides  are  overcast  and  the  ends  finished  with 
fringe.     This  rug  is  suitable  for  drawing-rooms  where  one 


RUGS  199 

wishes  stronger  tones  than  Kirmanshah  rugs  give.  They 
are  well  adapted  to  libraries,  living-rooms  and  halls,  and 
country  houses^— and  come  in  all  sizes. 

Meshed,  the  capital  of  Khorassan,  is  a  sacred  city,  for  the 
shrine  of  the  prophet  Iman  Riza  is  there ;  it  was  the  home  of 
the  great  Haroun-al-Raschid  and  of  Omar  Khayyam.  The 
religious  influence  is  very  strong,  and  not  only  are  beautiful 
rugs  made  there,  but  many  are  brought  from  other  parts  of 
Persia,  as  offerings.  In  design  they  are  much  like  the 
Khorassan  rugs,  but  are  lighter  in  color  and  more  closely 
chpped.     They  come  in  all  sizes  up  to  very  large  carpet  size. 

Shiraz  rugs  are  made  in  so  many  floral  and  geometrical  de- 
signs that  it  is  often  hard  to  distinguish  them.  Two  dis- 
tinctive marks,  however,  are  that  the  sides  are  overcast  in  two 
colors,  and  the  ends  are  usually  finished  with  a  colored 
selvage  and  long  fringe.  They  usually  have  a  dark  blue 
field  with  flowers  and  birds  and  animals  in  greens,  blues  and 
yellows.     They  come  in  medium  and  some  carpet  sizes. 

Saraband  rugs  are  still  made  after  the  old  patterns. 
The  design  is  made  up  of  rows  of  small  palm  pattern  facing 
in  opposite  directions,  and  tliis  central  field  is  bounded  by 
many  borders.  The  colors  are  dark  blue,  rich  red,  rose,  and 
ivory.  They  come  in  all  sizes  and  would  be  very  attractive 
in  living-rooms,  dining-rooms,  libraries,  and  halls. 

Ghorevan  rugs  are  made  in  the  district  of  Heraz,  and 
the  modern  product,  for  a  wonder,  are  often  superior  to  the 


200        FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

old.  The  designs  and  colors  are  bold  and  strong,  but  har- 
moniously blended,  the  colors  being  chiefly  blue,  green,  red, 
ivory,  and  brown.     They  come  in  carpet  sizes. 

Serapi  and  Bakshaish  rugs  are  made  in  this  district 
also,  but  are  finer  grade  and  softer  in  color.  They  come 
only  in  large  sizes  about  8  x  10  up  to  15  x  25.  No  dainty 
or  delicate  furniture  could  be  used  in  a  room  with  them. 
They  would  be  good  for  living-  and  billiard-rooms,  bunga- 
lows and  certain  country  homes. 

Hamadan  rugs  of  modern  makes  are  coarse  in  texture. 
The  design  is  usually  a  medallion  in  the  center  with  cut  off 
corners,  and  several  borders  bounded  by  a  plain  band  of 
camel's  hair. 

TURKISH  RUGS 

Turkish  rugs  are  made  in  Asia  Minor,  chiefly  in  Anatolia 
and  Kurdestan,  and  the  Ghiordes  knot  is  generally  used. 
The  designs  are  geometrical,  as  no  animal  forms  are  allowed 
by  religion  to  be  depicted. 

Constantinople  is  the  great  rug  center  of  the  Orient,  for 
there  are  gathered  together  all  the  rugs  from  the  different  dis- 
tricts, and  there  the  buyers  from  all  over  the  world  come  to 
haggle  and  bargain.  The  real  gems  are  growing  scarcer  and 
scarcer,  but  the  demand  for  Oriental  rugs  is  steadily  growing 
greater  as  people  in  general  are  becoming  better  acquainted 
with  their  beauties.     It  is  this  great   demand  which  has 


^C>""<j\5  ,lfe 


Antique    Anatolian   rug 


Fine    silk   Persian 


A  r^re  antique  Saraband  rug,  6  ft.  11  in.  x  4  ft.  3  in.,  valued  at  $1,000 


An  anti(|ue  Chinese  rug  in  wonderful  blues  and 

tans,    showing    some    of    the    happy    symbolism 

that  is  common  to  Chinese  art 


RUGS  201 

opened  the  door  to  commercialism  and  introduced  the  use 
of  anihne  dyes.  Unfortunately  the  standard  was  not  gen- 
erally high  enough  nor  the  knowledge  great  enough  on  the 
subject  among  Americans  and  Europeans  when  the  tide 
turned  in  that  direction.  The  great  mass  of  the  people,  still 
dazzled  by  the  bright  colors  of  the  Victorian  era,  were  not 
so  alive  to  the  dangers  of  aniline  dyes.  Now,  however,  they 
are  rapidly  becoming  educated  in  rug  lore,  and  the  demand 
is  for  the  old  ideals  of  beauty  of  color  and  design  and 
texture.  This  may  have  led  to  the  evils  of  washing,  but  we 
may  hope  that  is  only  a  step  in  the  right  direction.  In 
many  parts  of  Asia  Minor,  the  home  of  the  Turkish  rug, 
the  old  methods  of  weaving  and  dyeing  are  still  carried  on. 
The  lately  deposed  Sultan  established  a  school  where  beauti- 
ful antiques  are  copied  and  the  designs  carefully  studied, 
and  the  pupils  thoroughly  trained  in  all  the  ideals  of 
the  past,  but  simplified  as  much  as  possible  by  modern 
methods. 

The  antique  Ghiordes  prayer  rug  is  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  rugs  ever  made,  and  examples  of  it  are  very  rare 
and  precious,  in  fact  they  are  worthy  of  being  wall  hangings 
where  one  can  feel  their  great  beauty  of  color  and  design. 
The  center  of  the  rug  was  a  plain  color,  blue,  green,  yellow, 
red,  or  ivory,  and  gave  the  color  tone  to  the  whole  rug.  The 
mosque  door,  or  prayer  point,  was  supported  on  two  columns, 
and  from  the  point  hung  a  temple  lamp,  while  the  spandrils 


202        FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

were  fitted  with  floral  designs.  There  were  usually  three 
borders,  and  sometime  seven,  or  more,  with  narrow  strips 
between,  which  gave  a  lovely  effect  to  the  whole.  The  pile 
was  closely  cut  and  was  almost  without  luster.  They  were 
about  four  by  six  feet.  The  modern  Ghiordes  cannot  com- 
pare in  any  way  these  treasures  of  a  past  day. 

Prayer  rugs  are  made  by  nearly  all  rug  weavers,  as  they 
are  used  by  all  the  Faithful,  and  when  the  call  to  prayer 
comes  the  rug  is  laid  upon  the  ground  with  the  point  toward 
Mecca  and  the  true  believer  prostrates  himself  with  his 
forehead  on  the  point  and  his  hands  outstretched.  Many 
rugs  have  the  hands  worked  into  the  design.  When  there 
are  two  or  more  niches  the  rug  is  meant  for  several  people 
to  use  at  once. 

Kulah  prayer  rugs  are  much  like  the  Ghiordes,  but  dif- 
fer in  having  a  floral  pattern  running  the  length  of  the  field 
and  there  is  also  a  slight  difl'erence  in  the  shape  of  the  arch. 
These  antique  Kulahs  are  also  far  superior  to  the  modern 
make,  and  like  the  antique  Ghiordes  are  worth  a  small  for- 
tune. The  modern  Kulah  in  spite  of  its  coarse  texture  is 
made  of  long  silky  wool  and  is  one  of  the  better  grades  of 
Turkish  rugs,  although  some  aniline  dyes  are  used.  They 
come  in  carpet  size. 

The  antique  Bergamo  is  also  much  prized,  and  the 
modern  ones  have  merits  in  the  way  of  a  beautiful  sheen. 
The  field  is  usually  covered  with  medallions  and  geometrical 


RUGS  203 

patterns  and  wide  borders.  The  colors  are  rather  bright, 
but  of  medium  value. 

Bokhara  rugs  are  the  best  known  of  the  Turkoman 
rugs,  and  are  of  a  uniform  geometrical  design  repeated  regu- 
larly over  the  field  and  finished  with  geometrical  borders, 
usually  the  same  design  in  a  different  size.  The  color  is  a 
rich  dark  red  or  wine  color.  They  come  in  many  sizes, 
sometimes  fairly  large,  and  are  beautiful  for  living-rooms, 
libraries,  dining-rooms,  and  other  rooms  where  a  warm  beau- 
tiful red  is  desired. 

Beluchistan  rugs  come  in  lovely  shades  of  soft  dark 
blue  and  rich  red,  with  geometrical  figures  in  brown,  ivory, 
green,  and  maroon,  with  a  bluish  tone  over  all.  They  come 
in  small  and  hearth  rug  size. 

Antique  Indian  rugs  were  founded  on  Persian  designs 
with  the  Hindu  feeling  giving  them  a  characteristic  touch. 
The  colors  were  strong,  but  beautifully  blended  and  har- 
monious. 

The  modern  Indian  rug  is  made  chiefly  in  factories,  with 
vegetable  dyes  and  of  the  best  materials.  The  old  designs 
are  not  strictly  adhered  to,  as  any  and  all  are  copied,  and 
any  special  colors  wished  for  will  be  used.  They  are  made; 
in  all  sizes. 

Chinese  rugs  are  a  study  of  soft  blues  and  yellows  and 
ivory  and  wonderful  soft  reds,  and  are  among  the  most  beau- 
tiful rugs  in  the  world.     They  are  well  balanced  in  design 


£04        FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

and  full  of  interesting  symbolism,  for  they  worked  their 
religious  symbols  into  their  rugs,  and  the  "  eight  precious 
things,"  and  the  "  eight  lucky  emblems  "  the  bat,  the  stork, 
fishes,  the  prune,  different  flowers  and  trees  and  many  other 
things  are  all  there  with  their  meanings  of  long  life,  eternity, 
prosperity,  and  happiness.  There  is  a  golden  glow  or  bloom 
over  them  which  is  quite  impossible  to  describe,  and  which 
must  be  seen  to  be  appreciated  in  its  full  beauty. 

This  necessarily  very  short  account  of  Oriental  rugs  leaves 
out  many  kinds  which  should  be  mentioned,  and  also  the 
necessary  descriptions  of  and  classification  of  them.  It  is 
such  a  big  subject  in  itself  that  space  forbids  it  being  more 
than  touched  upon,  but  I  hope  that  anyone  who  is  planning 
to  buy  Oriental  rugs  will  care  to  know  more  of  the  subject. 
Many  valuable  books  of  plates  and  text  and  wonderful 
collections  in  many  museums  and  private  houses,  may  be 
thoroughly  studied,  so  that  one  of  our  household  necessities 
may  have,  for  all,  the  life  and  interest  which  the  subject  pos- 
sesses. 

The  price  of  modern  Oriental  rugs  varies  from  about  $1.50 
to  $10.00  a  square  foot;  some  are  more  and  some  less.  There 
is  no  fixed  price  for  antiques,  as  so  many  questions  enter  into 
the  matter,  but  they  are  difficult  to  get,  at  best,  and  weU 
worth  the  prices  asked,  which  range  from  about  $10,00  to 
several  hundreds  a  square  foot. 

The  following  short  list  will  give  an  idea  of  the  cost  of 


RUGS  205 

modern  rugs  as  sold  in  the  general  market.  Kirmanshah 
$1.75  to  $6.00  a  square  foot,  Kirman  $2.00  to  $5.00, 
Khorassan  $1.50  to  $3.50,  Gorevan  $1.25  to  $3.50,  Tabriz 
$3.00  to  $10.00,  Senna  $2.00  to  $6.00,  Saraband  $2.00  to 
$6.00,  Daghestan  $1.00  to  $3.00,  Khiva  Bokhara  $1.25  to 
$2.00,  Tekke  Bokhara  $2.00  to  $6.00,  Beluchistan  $1.00  to 
$2.50,  Chinese  .25  to  $5.00. 

The  Shahristan  is  one  of  the  finest  modern  Oriental  rugs 
made,  as  they  are  absolutely  reliable,  and  any  design  can  be 
copied.  The  colors  are  beautiful,  and  the  pile  is  fine.  They 
cost  $5.00  and  $9.00  a  square  foot,  and  defy  wear.  They 
are  the  kind  to  become  valued  antiques  in  the  course  of  time. 

It  is  one  of  the  minor  tragedies  of  hfe  to  know  and  love 
Oriental  rugs,  and  not  be  able  to  have  them  for  one's  own, 
for  it  takes  real  philosophy  to  see  them  in  all  their  beauty 
and  then  to  stay  contented  with  a  domestic  imitation. 

The  great  carpet  and  rug  manufacturers  have  wakened  to 
the  necessity  of  floor  covering  of  good  design  and  are  trying 
to  meet  the  demand  and  give  us  cause  for  real  content,  and  in 
the  last  few  years  giant  strides  have  been  taken  in  domestic 
rug  making.  Many  of  these  rugs  have  real  worth  and  beauty 
of  design  and  color,  and  are  close  copies,  so  far  as  machinery 
allows,  of  Oriental  ones,  and  are  really  far  better  than  some 
of  the  crude  and  ugly  ones  which  are  sold  at  high  prices 
simply  because  they  come  from  the  Orient. 

Plain  carpets  or  rugs  are  apt  to  be  much  more  satisfactory 


206        FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

in  effect  in  many  rooms  than  figured  carpets  or  rugs,  and 
there  are  several  makes  which  are  durable  and  beautiful  in 
texture  and  color.  They  can  be  made  in  any  size  with  a  two- 
toned  or  band  border  and  match  any  color  scheme.  They 
make  a  restful  and  charming  foundation  for  a  room.  They 
range  in  price  from  $3.00  to  $15.00  a  square  yard. 

Among  the  best  makes  of  domestic  rugs  are  Whittal's 
Anglo-Persian,  and  others;  Hartford- Saxony  rugs;  the  dif- 
ferent rugs  made  by  the  Bigelow  company ;  all  of  these  firms 
make  rugs  of  the  best  grade,  and  if  one  chooses  with  care 
and  with  due  regard  to  the  color,  one  may  well  be  satisfied 
with  the  result.  There  are  many  grades  of  Axminster,  and 
Inverness  or  Scotch  reversible  are  both  useful  and  charming 
in  many  rooms,  as  they  have  a  plain  center  and  a  two-toned 
border.  American  Aubusson  carry  out  this  same  idea,  and 
are  cheaper.  English  ingrain  rugs  come  in  attractive  colors 
and  designs  for  bedrooms  and  country  houses.  There  are 
other  weaves  of  plain  rugs,  with  borders  a  tone  or  two  darker 
than  the  center,  which  are  beautiful  and  useful,  and  fit  with 
dignity  into  many  schemes:  in  fact  they  are  safer  to  choose 
than  a  figured  rug.  There  is  also  the  plain  velvet  carpeting 
which  comes  in  rug  width  and  in  many  beautiful  colors. 
There  are  also  many  rugs  made  which  are  suitable  for  bunga- 
lows and  simple  country  houses  and  camps,  to  say  nothing 
of  the  porch,  and  woven  rag  rugs  have  come  to  stay.  These 
rugs  vary  in  price  in  different  parts  of  the  country,  but  a 


RUGS  207 

general  idea  may  be  gained  by  beginning  with  $12.00  for 
a  woven  rag  rug  up  to  about  $95.00,  all  in  the  9  x  12  size. 
One  can  buy  a  very  good  domestic  rug  for  $50.00,  or  $60.00 
either  in  an  Oriental  design  or  one  of  the  better  grade  plain 
makes.  A  9  x  12  Inverness  rug  costs  about  $27.50,  while 
an  American  Aubusson  in  that  size  costs  about  $18.00.  Ori- 
ental rugs  vary  in  price  from  about  $1.50  a  square  foot,  up 
to  a  much  higher  price,  depending  on  the  kind,  the  quahty, 
the  number  of  knots  to  the  square  inch,  and  the  age.  The 
price  of  antiques  is  of  course  more  or  less  arbitrary  as  it  is 
fixed  by  the  rarity  of  the  rug  as  well  as  its  beauty.  One  can 
buy  a  very  good  rug  in  some  of  the  modern  Turkish  or  Per- 
sian or  Turkoman  weaves  in  about  a  9  x  12  size  for  from 
$200.00  to  $300.00,  and  of  course  more  if  one  wishes.  The 
sizes  are  not  absolutely  cut  and  dried,  as  in  machine-made 
rugs,  but  vary  a  few  inches  one  way  or  the  other.  Antique 
Chinese  rugs  are  among  the  most  expensive  and  are  so  beau- 
tiful that  they  are  well  worth  the  price  asked  for  them. 

So,  with  all  the  Orient,  past  and  present,  spread  out 
before  one,  and  rug  manufacturers  beginning  to  feel  the  im- 
portance of  the  opportunity,  there  seems  to  be  no  reason 
why  we  should  not  have  beautiful  floor  coverings,  if  we  will 
only  realize  that  much  of  the  solving  of  the  problem  rests 
with  us.  The  floor  and  its  covering  is  such  an  important  part 
of  the  successful  decoration  of  a  house  that  one  must  never 
give  up  the  search  until  just  the  right  thing  is  found.     In 


208        FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

buying  a  rug  the  color  scheme  of  the  room  must  be  carefully 
taken  into  account,  so  that  there  will  be  no  clash  and  the 
floor  will  keep  its  proper  place  in  regard  to  the  rest  of  the 
room.  If  one  already  has  a  rug  it  should  be  the  keynote  to 
build  the  scheme  upon.  Rug  dealers  are  usually  willing  to 
send  rugs  to  a  house  on  approval,  so  that  they  can  be  seen 
in  the  surroundings  in  which  they  are  to  be.  In  placing  a 
rug  upon  the  floor  one  is  often  disappointed  to  find  the  color 
wrong,  but  do  not  despair  until  it  has  been  turned  with  the 
nap  going  the  other  way,  as  the  light  striking  the  rug,  either 
with,  or  against  the  nap,  makes  a  great  difference  in  tone. 
I  have  seen  what  seemed  an  impossible  rug  turn  a  room  into 
a  perfect  color  harmony  by  this  simple  process. 


Making   the  Porch   More  Livable 


Making  the  Porch  More  Livable 

ONLY  a  few  years  ago  a  porch  was  a  porch  to  the 
average  person  (hke  the  famous  primrose  to  Peter 
Bell),  "and  it  was  nothing  more."  Now  porches 
and  piazzas  have  come  into  their  own  and  they  help  vastly  in 
bringing  more  gayety  and  pleasantness  and  healthfulness 
into  our  lives.  Wherever  one  turns  one  finds  the  furnished 
porch;  for  sleeping,  for  dining,  for  living-rooms,  it  may  be 
large  or  it  may  be  small,  it  may  be  built  for  the  purpose,  or 
it  may  be  a  makeshift,  but  the  ideal  of  outdoor  living  is  there 
and  is  steadily  gaining  ground,  and  everyone  tries  to  have  at 
least  a  small  portion  of  the  open  where  they  can  be  com- 
fortable and  where  mosquitoes  cease  from  troubling  and 
spiders  are  at  rest. 

The  ideal  porch  is  broad  and  large  enough  to  allow  one 
always  to  find  a  shady  and  protected  spot.  It  should  be 
so  planned  that  it  is  an  absolutely  necessary  and  convincing 
part  of  the  architecture  and  not  an  excrescence  or  after- 
thought that  it  so  many  times  seems  to  be.  It  may  be  an 
open  porch  or  have  pillars  supporting  beams  or  a  roof,  or  it 
may  have  only  a  balustrade  or  a  low  wall  or  coping  with  a 
broad  and  comfortable  top.  Low  easy  steps  should  lead  to 
the  driveway  and  garden,  awnings  and  vines  should  cast  a 

211 


212       PURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

pleasant  shade,  and  shrubbery  and  gay  flower  borders  add 
to  its  charm.  The  chairs  should  be  so  arranged  that  the  best 
views  are  taken  advantage  of  without  the  trouble  of  moving 
the  furniture. 

One  may  not  be  able  to  have  one  of  these  large  and  en- 
trancing porches,  but  that  is  no  reason  for  going  without  one 
entirely.  A  summer  in  town  is  not  so  bad  if  one  can  find 
some  place  about  the  house  where  a  porch  or  a  loggia  or  a 
little  balcony  may  be  tucked.  With  boxes  of  vines  and 
plants  on  the  railing,  a  swinging  seat,  a  comfortable  wicker 
chair,  some  cushions,  a  table  and  an  awning  or  bamboo  cur- 
tain if  necessary,  one  has  the  possibility  of  many  happy  hours. 

A  porch  can  easily  be  made  most  attractive  and  livable 
and  really  amount  to  an  extra  living-room.  There  are  many 
different  kind^  of  suitable  furniture  made,  and  it  goes  almost 
without  saying  that  it  should  be  of  a  kind  not  easily  hurt  by 
a  sudden  shower.  In  heavy  storms  it  is  of  course  pushed  out 
of  harm's  way,  but  upholstery  and  expensive  covering  for 
the  cushions  are  out  of  the  question. 

Willow  or  wicker  furniture  is  always  good,  and  may  be 
left  the  natural  color  or  stained  as  one  wishes.  It  is  some- 
thing to  be  thankful  for,  that  elaborate  designs  are  not  often 
seen  nowadays ;  good  and  simple  lines  are  what  people  want, 
and  it  is  easier  to  find  them  than  it  was  a  short  time  ago. 
Removable  cushions  covered  with  cretonne,  linen,  India  cot- 
ton, Russian  crash,  denim,  Turkey  red,  etc.,  are  all  used,  the 


A  hcme-like  and  inviting  porch.     The  reversible  rugs  are  especially  well  suited 

to  the  purpose. 


MAKING  THE  PORCH  MORE  LIVABLE  213 

colors  and  materials  to  harmonize  with  the  general  scheme 
of  the  house  and  garden.  Another  kind  of  furniture  suitable 
to  porches  is  called  India  splint.  It  is  built  somewhat  on 
JVIission  lines,  but  is  not  so  heavy  and  is  very  attractive. 
Everything  needed  is  made  in  it,  from  seats  and  swings  to 
curate's  assistants,  and  it  is  usually  stained  a  soft  and  pleas- 
ant brown.  Rustic  or  splint  furniture  is  always  good  and 
can  be  stained  any  color  desired;  and  then  there  is  the  rustic 
furniture  made  of  branches,  which,  when  it  is  well  built,  is 
appropriate  for  camps  and  bungalows  in  the  woods,  or  for 
garden  seats.  Mission  furniture  is  well  suited  to  porches 
if  it  is  of  one  of  the  best  makes  and  not  the  ex- 
traordinarily heavy  and  clumsy  kind  that  we  too  often  see. 
Terrace  furniture  made  of  cypress  and  painted  white  is  most 
attractive.  There  are  chairs  of  all  kinds,  tables,  settees, 
swings  on  chains,  tea  wagons,  screens,  everything,  in  fact, 
that  can  possibly  be  needed  in  these  different  kinds  of  furni- 
ture. 

The  rugs  that  are  most  appropriate  to  use  are  matting  and 
prairie  grass,  Algerian  fiber,  Japanese  cotton  and  jute, 
woven  and  hooked  rag  rugs,  bungalow  rugs,  and  some  Ax- 
minster  and  Wilton,  and  Scotch  reversible.  Very  valuable 
rugs  are  out  of  place  for  out-of-door  service  as  a  usual  thing. 

Colors  for  porch  furnishings  should  take  their  keynote 
from  the  color  and  style  of  the  house.  The  gray  of  con- 
crete or  plaster,  the  soft  red  or  beautiful  variegated  colors  of 


I 


214j       furnishing  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

brick,  the  white  or  yellow  of  Colonial  houses,  or  the  browns 
and  moss  greens  of  shingles,  all  call  for  a  variation  of  treat- 
ment. As  a  general  thing  we  can  stand  gayer  colors  out  of 
doors  than  in  the  house,  for  the  kindly  atmosphere  treats 
them  as  it  does  the  bright  colors  of  flowers  and  seems  to  give 
them  the  needed  softening  touch.  Bright  red,  which  can  be 
used  to  advantage  in  a  cool  climate,  is  often  too  hot  looking 
unless  it  harmonizes  perfectly  with  the  color  scheme.  Yeh 
low,  and  some  greens,  do  not  fade  so  rapidly  as  blue,  but  most 
pale  colors  vanish  as  if  by  magic  in  hot  sun  and  sea  air. 

Curtains  of  heavy  material,  with  or  without  a  stenciled  bor- 
der, are  often  used  to  hide  the  service  end  of  the  house  from 
view,  but  thick  vines  are  really  better.  If  one  wishes  a  vine 
screen  that  will  grow  rapidly  and  last  well  through  the  season 
the  Cobcea  is  most  satisfactory. 

If  there  is  a  bay-window,  looking  out  upon  the  piazza,  a 
window-seat  built  around  it  is  a  good  idea.  It  gives  many 
extra  seats  and  is  an  attractive  feature  when  covered  with 
cushions  to  match  the  others.  It  may  be  like  the  woodwork 
or  like  the  furniture,  as  one  pleases.  A  shelf  for  magazines, 
with  weights  to  keep  them  from  blowing  about,  is  a  godsend, 
and  also  a  nest  of  tea-tables  will  be  found  most  useful. 

Of  course  we  all  know  there  are  no  mosquitoes  in  any  well 
regulated  summer  place,  but  still,  accidents  may  happen,  and 
a  strong  wind  may  blow  them  from  the  little  town  across  the 
bay,  or  the  salt  marsh  five  miles  away  —  it  is  odd  how  often 


MAKING  THE  PORCH  MORE  LIVABLE  215 

that  wind  seems  to  blow,  and  it  is  well  to  be  prepared  by  hav- 
ing a  part  of  the  porch  screened ;  it  adds  wonderfully  to  one's 
comfort.  A  simple  way  to  screen  a  portion  of  the  porch 
is  to  use  black  mosquito  netting,  six  feet  wide.  Have  it 
tacked  carefully  to  the  posts  and  woodwork  and  cover  the 
edges  with  narrow  molding  painted  to  match  the  woodwork. 
One  can  enter  from  a  door  or  French  window  from  the 
house,  and  a  hedge  of  plants  across  the  piazza  just  outside 
the  netting  will  keep  people  from  walking  into  it. 

And  now  a  word  or  two  about  sleeping-porches.  The  cus- 
tom of  sleeping  out-of-doors  is  becoming  more  and  more  com- 
mon, and  people  who  have  faithfully  tried  it  all  the  year 
'round  say  that  they  feel  fairly  boxed  up  when  obliged  to 
sleep  indoors.  The  fearful  test  of  one's  theories  comes  on  the 
first  cold  night.  I  heard  of  one  person  who  enjoyed  it 
through  the  summer  and  autumn,  and  then  one  night  late  in 
November  the  mercury  suddenly  dropped  to  the  neighbor- 
hood of  zero.  His  New  England  conscience  began  to  work 
on  the  subject  of  the  furnace  and  drove  him  to  his  duty. 
Then  came  the  tug  of  war.  Should  he  crawl  back  into  the 
fearful  cold  or  go  to  his  comfortable  room?  The  porch  won, 
and  now  all  the  members  of  the  family  follow  his  good  ex- 
ample. A  sleeping-porch,  to  be  successful,  should  be  well 
screened  in  summer  and  be  as  airy  and  open  as  possible.  The 
couch,  or  couches,  should  be  so  placed  that  they  are  protected 
from   the   rain.     Gloucester  hammocks,   made   of   canvas, 


216        FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

swung  on  chains  from  the  roof,  are  very  comfortable.  The 
porch  should  open  from  a  well  warmed  dressing-room  if  it  is 
used  in  winter.  With  flower-boxes  along  the  railing  and  an 
awning  it  will  make  a  very  charming  little  upstair  sitting- 
room  during  the  day.  One  could  get  a  great  deal  of  pleas- 
ure from  it  for  one  could  lie  in  the  hammock  and  read  in 
peace  without  the  fear  of  being  interrupted  by  a  sudden 
descent  of  callers. 

A  rival  that  is  pressing  hard  upon  the  triumphant  way  of 
the  porch  is  the  paved  terrace.  It  certainly  has  its  charms, 
and  also,  like  the  porch,  it  has  its  drawbacks.  It  takes  no 
light  from  the  living-rooms  of  the  house,  but  it  is  open  to  the 
weather,  and  in  case  of  a  sudden  shower  one  has  to  fly.  Awn- 
ings can  of  course  be  put  up,  and  there  is  a  charm  and  dig- 
nity about  a  terrace  that  a  porch  fails  to  give.  I  really  think 
that  both  are  necessary  to  the  perfect  country  house.  A  ter- 
race usually  has  a  stone  coping  with  broad  steps  leading  down 
to  the  garden.  Shrubs  in  carved  stone  or  molded  terra-cotta 
jars  are  placed  at  intervals;  rugs  can  be  spread  on  the  tiled  or 
brick  pavement,  carved  stone  seats  or  heavy  wooden  settles 
flank  the  walls  and  inviting  chairs  and  tables  stand  about. 

And  so  I  say,  if  one  is  planning  to  build,  by  all  means  have 
both  terrace  and  a  porch.  The  terraces  of  the  great  English 
houses  that  have  taken  centuries  to  perfect  can  be  our  models, 
and  with  a  good  architect  and  landscape  gardener  we  can 
have  most  beautiful  ones  ourselves.     The  garden  of  course 


MAKING  THE  PORCH  MORE  LIVABLE  217 

adds  a  great  charm  to  any  porch  or  terrace  and  must  be  taken 
into  account  in  planning  the  house.  A  pergola,  leading  from 
the  porch  to  the  garden,  covered  with  vines,  with  a  fountain 
in  the  distance,  is  a  most  alluring  sight.  Stone  seats,  jars, 
sun-dials  and  simple  ornaments  of  all  kinds  are  made  for  the 
garden,  porch  and  terrace,  and  often  give  the  last  touch  that 
makes  the  whole  perfect. 


A   List  of  Books  on  the  Period 
Styles  and  Furnishing 

English  Furniture  of  the  17th  and  18th  Centuries.  L.  V. 
Lockwood. 

Colonial  Furniture  in  America.     L.  V.  Lockwood. 

English  Furniture  of  the  18th  Century.     Herbert  Cescinsky. 

Chippendale  Period  in  English  Furniture.    K.  W.  Clouston. 

English  Furniture  and  Furniture  Makers.     P.  S.  Clouston, 

Measured  Drawings  of  Old  English  Furniture.  J.  W. 
Hurrell. 

Colonial  Furniture  and  Interiors.     N.  W.  Elwell. 

Old  Oak  Furniture.     Fred  Roe. 

English  Furniture.     F.  S.  Robinson. 

Furniture  of  the  Olden  Time.     F.  C.  Morse. 

Old  Furniture  Book.     N.  H.  Moore. 

Furniture  Designs  of  Chippendale,  Hepplewhite  and  Shera- 
ton.    Arthur  Hay  den. 

Half-Timbered  Houses  of  the  XVI  and  XVII  Centuries. 
W.  B.  Sanders. 

English  Furniture  Designers  of  the  18th  Century.  Con- 
stance Simon. 

Dutch  and  Flemish  Furniture.     Esther  Singleton. 

French  and  English  Furniture.     Esther  Singleton. 

218 


A  LIST  OF  BOOKS  219 

Furniture  of  Our  Forefathers.     Esther  Singleton. 

English  Furniture.     T.  A.  Strange. 

Through  Colonial  Doorways.  Anne  Hollingsworth  Whar- 
ton. 

Quest  of  the  Colonial.     Shackleton. 

Byways  of  Collecting.     Ethel  Deane. 

Lure  of  the  Antique.     W.  A.  Dyer. 

How  to  Collect  Old  Furniture.     Frederick  Litchfield. 

Craftsman  Houses.     Gustav  Stickley. 

Period  Furnishing.     C.  R.  Clifford. 

L/J^henisterie.     Henri  Harvard. 

Histoire  des  Styles.     Henri  Harv^ard. 

French  Furniture  and  Decoration  in  the  18th  Century.  E. 
F.  Dilke. 

French  Furniture.     Andre  Saglio. 

Le  Mobilier  Royal  Francais  aux  XVIIe  et  XVIIIe 
Siecles.     C.  L.  M.  E.  Molinier. 

Le  Mobilier  du  Premiere  Empire.     Egon  Hessling. 

French  Interiors.     T.  A.  Strange. 

Ornamental  Details  of  the  Italian  Renaissance.  G.  A.  iT. 
Middleton. 

Italian  Villas.     Edith  Wharton. 

Historic  Ornament.     Richard  Glozier. 

Decorative  Periods.     C.  R.  Clifford. 

The  Decoration  of  Houses.  Edith  Wharton  and  Ogden 
Codman. 


no       FURNISHING  THE  HOME  OF  GOOD  TASTE 

Histoire  de  VArt  Decoratif  du  XVIe  Steele  a  nos  Jours. 

Arsene  Alexandre. 
La  Decoration.     Henri  Harvard.  | 

Rugs  of  the  Orient.     C.  R.  CliiFord.  | 

Rugs  in  their  Native  Land.     Eliza  Dunn.  1 

Oriental  Rugs.     J.  K.  Mumford.  I 

Rugs.     R.  B.  Holt. 

How  to  Know  Oriental  Rugs.     M.  B.  Langton. 
Practical  Book  of  Oriental  Rugs.     G.  G.  Lewis. 
Eastern  Carpets.     V.  K.  Robinson. 
Bayeux  Tapestry.     F.  R.  Fowke. 
La  Tapesserie.     Henri  Harvard. 
History  of  Tapestry.    W.  G.  Thomas. 


THE  END 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 

RENEWALS  ONLY— TEL.  NO.  642-3405 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 

Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


RH;cEjveD 


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RECEIVED 


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CIRCULATION  OEPT. 


:!^P  C '  ?:^y 


FEB  12 1989 


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General  Library- 
University  of  California 
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